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IN THE LENA DELTA 



A NARRATIVE OF THE 



SEAECH FOE LIEUT.-COMMANDEE DeLONG 
AND HIS COMPANIONS 



FOLLOWED BY 



AN ACCOUNT OF THE GEEELY 
EELIEF EXPEDITION 



A PEOPOSED METHOD OF EEACHING THE 
NOETH POLE 



BY 

GEOEGE W. MELVILLE 

CHIEF ENGINEER U. S. N. 



EDITED BY 

MELVILLE PHILIPS 



WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 




BOSTON 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY 

New York : 11 East Seventeenth Street 

@$e 0foer#te #re£& Camfiri&se 

1885 



: 






Gf^ 






Copyright, 1884, 
By HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. 



.AW n'^Ate reserved. 

To replaoe lost copy 
OCT 10 7330 



TAe Riverside Press, Cambridge: 
Electrotyped and Printed by H. 0. Houghton & Co. 



EDITOR'S PREFACE. 



If it be true — and Emerson affirms as much — that 
great deeds deserve a fit and permanent record, then as- 
suredly there can be no need of explanation, much less of 
apology, for the appearance of this work. "We need 
books of this tart cathartic virtue," wrote our New Eng- 
land sage ; and so the editor flatters himself for having 
contributed to the birth of this one. 

The world knows the story of the lost Jeannette, the 
luckless cruise and tedious drift of many months, the 
amazing march and terrible tribulation, the heroic en- 
deavor and sad ending, — the world is aware of all this, 
to be sure, because in all the world's history it has no 
parallel ; and no matter the why or the wherefore, there 
is yet in this story a human sympathy that cannot be 
disguised, an abiding interest that overlooks the ques- 
tion of utility. 

Perhaps there will be readers of this volume who, 
already acquainted with the prominent part played by 
our author in the many adventures attending the long 
ice -blockade of the Jeannette, may have expected a 
fuller account of that interesting period than will be 
found herein ; and will consequently regard our brief 
narrative of it as insufficient and unsatisfactory. Cer- 
tainly it does appear, considering the few pages devoted 



iv EDITOR'S PREFACE. 

to this prolonged and remarkable drift, that we have 
treated it too lightly and displayed an undue haste in 
transporting the reader to the shores of Siberia. 

Not all, it is true, of the Jeannette's experiences in 
the ice have been chronicled, but then more than enough 
have been published to enable the reader to gain an ade- 
quate idea of the wonderful voyage and retreat, and in 
the melancholy " ice-journals " 1 of Commander De Long 
these may be found embodied in their most permanent, 
authentic, and interesting form. Hence it was deemed 
advisable for this work, after affording the reader a run- 
ning survey of the cruise and march, to begin its more 
elaborate discourse at the date of the separation of the 
three boats in the gale of September 12, 1881. The 
events, indeed, which followed can have no competent 
historian save Chief Engineer Melville. He it was who 
directly gave rise to them, and was the prime mover and 
central figure in all the exploits " In the Lena Delta." 

The greater portion of the author's manuscript was 
prepared between the months of January and April of 
this year (1884), and the final chapters were written at 
sea ; for, undaunted by his previous experiences, he sailed 
again in Arctic waters to the relief of Lieutenant Greely ; 
and, moreover, he herein proposes, upon an original plan, 
to attain the goal that has baffled the daring of Parry 
and of Franklin. 

Qui bono f asks the utilitarian. There are numerous 
and well-known advantages that would result from the 
success of such a venture. Aside from the many useful 
facts that would be established concerning the laws of 
storms and wind- waves, the flattening of the earth at the 
1 Voyage of the Jeannette, etc., Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 



EDITORS PREFACE. v 

pole would be measured, and geographical science be 
plainly benefited. Additional information, too, would be 
gained in astronomy, meteorology, ocean physics, and 
natural history, a more thorough knowledge of which 
would certainly add directly or indirectly to the com- 
fort and safety of mankind. 

As to the rest, I refer the reader to the theory itself, 
merely observing that — " Prejudice, which man pre- 
tends to hate, is," according to Carlyle, "his absolute 
lawgiver. . . . Thus, let but a rising of the sun, let but 
a creation of the world, happen twice, and it ceases to 
be marvelous, to be noteworthy or noticeable." 

In other words, let but Chief Engineer Melville reach 
the North Pole, and besides the scientific benefits issuing 
from the event will doubtless be another and perhaps 
more important one to the world at large — his success, 
in his own words, " may prevent other fools from going 
there." 

MELVILLE PHILIPS. 

October 16, 1884. 



\ 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Editor's Preface iii 

IN THE LENA DELTA. 
■ » 
CHAPTER I. 

OFF FOR THE POLE. 

The Jeannette Expedition. — Our Departure. — Unalaska. — St. 
Michael's. — The Tchuchees. — Nordenskjold. — Frozen in. — 
Herald Island 1 



CHAPTER II. 

DRIFTING. 

Shipboard Economy. — A Frozen Wave. — Lead-Poisoning. — 
My Visit to Henrietta Island 11 

CHAPTER m. 

CAST UPON THE ICE. 

Life in the Upper Cabin. — Our Situation. — The Jeannette 
goes down. — Camping. — Marching 27 

CHAPTER IV. 

RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 

Game. — Retrogression. — Beans. — Progress at Last. — Ben- 
nett Island. — In the Boats. — Our Dogs. — Threading the 
Leads 40 

CHAPTER V. 

VOYAGE OF THE WHALE-BOAT. 

Weathering the Gale. — Our Sea- Anchor. — Siberia in Sight . 66 



vm CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

ON THE LENA DELTA. 

Sailing up Stream. — The Hut. — Our Frozen Limbs. — Meet- 
ing with the Natives. — Learning their Language 77 

CHAPTER VII. 

UP THE LENA. 

My Unsuccessful Effort ." to go it alone." — Vasilli Kool Gar. 

— My Duck Diplomacy. — Fears of Scurvy. — Arii, the De- 
serted Village. — Spiridon, the Ugly Starosti. — Siberian Ice- 
Cellars. — Jamaveloch 94 

CHAPTER VIII. 

AT JAMAVELOCH. 

Nicolai Chagra. — An Impressive Pantomime. — The "Red 
Fiend." — Over-Ripe but Green Geese. — Devotions. — A 
Balogan described 110 

CHAPTER IX. 

SIBERIAN LIFE. 

Balked again. — The Balogan Americanski. — A Row with the 
Starosti. — Catching Fish. — Deer and Geese Hunting . . .123 

CHAPTER X. 

KUSMA TO OUR RESCUE. 

Incidents in Our Balogan. — Kusma. — Faithless Spiridon . .134 
CHAPTER XI. 

A STEP FORWARD. 

Kusma's Coming. — Nindemann and Noros. — I start for Belun. 

— Siberian Dog-Sleds. — A Storm. — Ku Mark Surt . . .142 

CHAPTER XII. 

AT BELUN. 

I am admired. — Deer-Sleds. — Buruloch. — Native Gossips. — 
Meeting with Nindemann and Noros. — Their Piteous Story. 

— The Malinki Pope. — An Unexpected Visit from Bartlett. 

— Back to Buruloch 158 



CONTENTS. ix 

CHAPTER XIII. 

SEARCHING FOR DE LONG. 

Bieshoff. — Poor Jack Cole. — I start in Quest of De Long. — 
At Ku Mark Surt again. — How to eat Raw Fish. — The 
Maiden with the Lively Tresses. — Bulcour. — " The Place of 
the Three Crosses." — Sleeping in the Snow. — Mat Vay. — 
A Clue 170 

CHAPTER XIV. 

LOSING THE TRAIL. 

Treachery. — I make a Cannibalistic Threat. — Cass Carta. — 
A Late Supper of Deer Hoofs and Horns. — Benumbed. — 
Another Night in the Snow. — "Balogan soak!" — North 
Belun. — I dive into a Hut and "receive." — Two Precious 
Bumagas. — A Yakut Bride. — Sleeping in Close Quarters. 

— An Ignoble Economy. — Definite Tidings .184 

CHAPTER XV. 

A TRIP TO THE ARCTIC SHORE. 

Ballok. — The Boos Byral. — The Cache. — I am hoodwinked 
again. — Topographical Revelations. — Myacks. — Our De- 
spised Mock and Tas. — A Coveted Demijohn. — Phadee 
Achin 201 

CHAPTER XVI. 

STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 

Daring the Storm. — The Suffering of the Dogs. — At Macha. 

— " Ballook soak! " — Foot-Prints. — Straying. — Sister Ga- 
nak. — Odorous Offal for Supper. — Remorseless Weather. — 
Qu Vina. — More Offal. — Vos Crusina. — A Bone Cache. — 
River Bergs. — Seeking Refuge in the Snow. — Breakfasting 

on Putrid Deer Bones 211 

CHAPTER XVII. 

END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 

Forcing the Journey. — " Oo, oo." — Bulcour. — Rough Re- 
pairing. — " Paddy " despairs. — But quickly revives. — And 
performs Wonders. — Ku Mark Surt. — Buruloch. — My Deer 
Train. — On to Belun. — Tedious Progress. — Ajaket. — 
Belun. — Epatchieff 228 



x CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

FROM BELUN TO VERKERANSK. 

My Record of the Journey. — Minus 45° Reaumur. — A Rus- 
sian's Views of America and her Institutions. — Kasharofski. 
— M. Leon. — My Letter of Instructions. — A Visit to the 
Hut of the Exiles. — Leon's Case. — Life at Verkeransk. — 
Facts about the Political Exiles 240 

CHAPTER XIX. 

FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 

Penavitch. — Doctor Buali. — His Sad Story. — Those Terrible 
Nihilists. — " A Dead Nihilist and a Dead Czar." — Happy 
Lovers. — I take a Remarkable Russian Bath, and a Very 
Bad Cold. — Off to Yakutsk. — Siberian Scenery. — The 
Horse and his Troubles. — A Queer Predicament. — Kange- 
rack. — Crossing the Divide. — A Dangerous Descent. — A 
Tunguse Home. — Exasperating Yamshicks. — A Sickening 
Sight. — Native Grist-Mills. — A Learned Exile. — The 
Scaups 253 

CHAPTER XX. 

AT YAKUTSK. 

The " Balogan Americanski." — General Tschernaieff. — How 
he received me. — Mr. Danenhower and Party set out for 
America. — Instructions from the Department. — Praesnik. — 
Preparations for my Second Search. — Yakutsk Society. — 
New Year's Eve. — Nova Goat. — The Bishop receives. — 
Masquerading. — Bulky Money 272 

CHAPTER XXI. 

NORTH AGAIN. 

Off for Verkeransk. — A Climatic Surprise. — The Journey to 
Belun. — Arrangements for the Search. — A Rough Ride to 
Jamaveloch. — Futile Attempts to dispatch Fish. — A " Cor- 
ner " in Fish. — Indignant Coperts. — The Gamblers of the 
Lena Delta. — Paying off Old Scores. — Humbled Nicolai 
and Repentant Spiridon 283 



CONTENTS. xi 

CHAPTER XXII. 

STORM-BOUND. 

Arctic Weather. — Pedestrian Difficulties. — Lost in the Vil- 
lage. — Outstripping the Typhoon. — Continuance of the 
Same Old Gale. — A Yakut Solution of a Financial Problem. 

— Off for Arii. — Chul-Boy-Hoy. — Golivar Compass. — 
Turkanach. — An Afflicted Family. — Ordono. — Qu Vina. 

— At Cass Carta. — Our Palatial Quarters. — In Distress. — 
Timely Relief. — Together at Last. — The Art of Broiling 
Steaks. — A Reminiscence. — A Twenty-Pound Drink. — 
Yakut and Tchuchee Filthiness 297 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

FINDING THE BODIES. 

Getting Affairs in Shape. — My Map of the Delta. — Searching 
for Ericksen's Hut. — Revelations. — Contending with the 
Storm. — The Yakut Fashion of Lighting Fires. — A Miser- 
able Night. — Which Cape ? — A Clue. — The Myack. — 
Found. — De Long's Ice-Journal and Its Sad Entries. — Posi- 
tions of the Bodies. — De Long's Pistol. — A False Report. — 
Dr. Ambler. — Appearance of the Dead. — " Dwee Pomree " 319 

CHAPTER XXI. 

THE BURIAL. 

Bringing in the Dead. — Writing under Difficulties. — Selecting 
a Burial Ground. — "Around the Corner." — The Finding 
of Lee and Kaack. — Monument Hill. — Constructing the 
Coffin and Cross. — Nindemann discovers Ericksen's Hut. — 
Erecting the Tomb-Cairn. — The Simple Obsequies. — A Su- 
perstitious Soldatski. — A Yakut Bumaga 337 

CHAPTER XXV. 

SEARCHING FOR CHIPP. 

Mr. Gilder. — Starting the Records off. — Kigolak. — Sava. — 
Sabas Kokoo. — Turak. — Jaolak. — The " Little Foxes." — 
Chanker. — The Alanek Country and Natives. — The Village 
of Alanek. — The Fate of Pronchishcheff. — A Trip to the 
Graves of Pronchishcheff' s Party. — A Coastwise Search. — 



xii CONTENTS. 

Yakut Divorce Laws. — Our Wretched Dogs. — Koobalak. — 
At Cass Carta again. — Nindemann's and Bartlett's Searches. 

— Journeying back to Jamaveloch. - — Native Coffins and 
Mode of Burial 350 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

MY FINAL SEARCH TO THE JANA RIVER. 

The Rodgers. — Mr. Gilder's Culpable Conduct. — Harber and 
Schuetze. — Noros and Jackson. — Mr. Larsen. — Jackson's 
Vandalism. — Eating Wood. — Shumomea. — Oceansk. — 
Mammoth Ivory. — Off for Verkeransk. — The Exiles once 
more. — A Letter from Berry. — On Horseback to Yakutsk. 

— Our Miserable Equipment and Ride to Kangerack. — The 
Rapid Thaw. — " Jacksoned." — The Experience of Bubo- 
koff. — Kolinkin and Gilder. — Siberian Cattle 367 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

THROUGH SIBERIA. 

Meeting with Berry and Hunt. — In the Valley of the Aldan. 

— "Dismal John." — Traveling through the Flooded Dis- 
trict. — A Tunguse Family en. route. — Crossing the Aldan. 

— A Picturesque Scene. — Arrival at Yakutsk. — On Board 
the Pioneer. — Mosquitoes. — Castellated Cliffs. — Passing 
the Harber Party. — Copert Barges. — The Voyage to Ka- 
rinsk. — On the Constantine and the Tow-Boats. — In the 
Tarantass. — "Ivan" the Fictitious Friend. — Irkutsk. — 
The Story of my Watch 380 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

HOMEWARD BOUND. 

Governor Anutchin. — On to Tomsk. — A Current Ferry-Boat. 

— Agricultural Settlements. — Rascally Stancia-Keepers and 
Yamshicks. — Their Methods. — Exiles in Droves. — At 
Tomsk. — The " Hotel Million." — Attentive Mr. Hilden- 
berger. — On the River Obi. — Tobolsk. — Tuamen. — Float- 
ing Jails. — Ekaterinborg. — Perm. — Nijni Novgorod and 
the Great Bazaar. — Moscow. — St. Petersburg. — Our Re- 
ception. — A Day at Peterhof. — Home 397 



CONTENTS. xni 

THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 



CHAPTER I. 

NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 

Failure of the Neptune, Proteus, and Yantic to Relieve Greely. 

— My Proposal. — The Plan and Fitting Out of the Expe- 
dition. — St. John's. — Disco Island 414 

CHAPTER II. 

RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 

Upernavik. — The Whalers. — Captain Walker's Story. — The 
Bear Aground. — Racing. — Nipped. — The Duck Islands. 

— Off Cape York. — Conical Rock 427 

CHAPTER HI. 

THE RESCUE. 

Saunders Island. — Cape Parry. — Littleton Island. — Finding 
the Records. — The Greely Party. — Scenes at Camp Clay. 

— Preserving the Dead 445 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE RETURN VOYAGE. 

Reminiscences. — Foulke Fiord. — The Inconstant Esquimaux. 

— The Burial of Frederic Christiansen. — St. John's. — 
Portsmouth. — New York 461 



A PROPOSED METHOD OF REACHING THE NORTH 
POLE 471 



APPENDIX. 

The Melville Sled 485 

Equipment of Arctic Expeditions 487 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Page. 

Portrait op Chief Engineer Melville Frontispiece. 

The Jeannette leaving San Francisco 1 

Scenes on the Voyage op the Jeannette 24 

Taking Possession of Bennett Island 44 

The Separation op the Boats in the Gale 64 

Exterior and Interior Views op Exile Houses 112 

De Long and Party Wading Ashore 144 

The Kescue op Nindemann and Noros 164 

Native Houses and Station in the Delta 186 

Starting off in Search of De Long 224 

The City of Yakutsk. (From a photograph.) 272 

Finding the Bodies op De Long and his Companions . . . 330 

Monument Hill, Lena Delta 344 

Landing Lieutenant Greely at Lady Franklin Bay . . .415 

Incidents in the Rescue op the Greely Party 456 

A "Kit" of Arctic Clothing 488 

MAPS. 

The Lena Delta : Showing all the localities mentioned in the text ; 
the routes taken by the De Long and Melville parties, and by the 
search parties 208 

The Course of the Jeannette : Showing also the route taken 
by the ship's crew after the sinking of the vessel, and the course 
of the Vega (1878) 253 

The Channels North of Baffin's Bay : Showing the highest 
points reached by the Greely and Nares expeditions ; the route 
taken by Lieutenant Greely in the retreat ; the Neptune's highest 
point in the attempt to rescue in 1882, etc., etc. (From the latest 
Government authorities.) 432 

The Circumpolar Region : Showing the highest points reached 
in different longitudes ; the probable drift of the Jeannette if she 
had not sunk; Melville's proposed route to the pole, etc., etc. . 476 



■P--1 




IN THE LENA DELTA. 



CHAPTER I. 

OFF FOR THE POLE. 



The Jeannette Expedition. — Our Departure. — Unalaska. — St. 
Michael's. — The Tchuchees. — Nordenskjold. — Frozen in. — 
Herald Island. 

The Kuro-Shiwo (the black current of Japan) runs 
around the Japanese Islands, threads its way among the 
Kurile Islands, passes eastward to Kamschatka, and 
thence northward to Behring Strait, where it separates 
into two branches. The one branch seeks the west coast 
of North America, and then runs south, tempering the 
atmosphere as it goes, until it is lost in the warm water 
at the equator. The other branch passes into the Arctic 
Ocean, streaming up into the northeast, and was lately- 
regarded as one of the thermometric gateways to the 
Pole. 

Previous to the Jeannette's voyage no polar expedi- 
tion had ever set out by way of Behring Strait, although 
one had indeed been projected by a French lieutenant, 
but was prevented by the breaking out of the Franco- 
Prussian War ; and a high latitude, it is true, had been 
gained by the search ships of the English squadron 
which hoped to intercept Sir John Franklin in case he 
was successful in making the Northwest Passage. 

The object of the Jeannette expedition was thus to 



2 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

reach the North Pole by following up the Kuro-Shiwo ; 
but it should be remembered that our first cruise (which 
unhappily proved both first and last) was only designed 
at the time to be an experimental voyage. So, resting 
upon this brief review of the motive of our luckless en- 
terprise, I shall now proceed to chronicle it. 

All things being in readiness, on the 8th of July, 
1879, the sun shining clear and strong on the beautiful 
bay, we cleared from the Golden Gate, accompanied by 
the San Francisco Yacht Club. 

Never was departure more auspicious. It was a gala 
day for the good people of 'Frisco ; the harbor was alive 
with their pleasure craft, and right royal was the fare- 
well they tendered our adventurous ship. Cheers rang 
out from the crowded wharves ; the masts and decks of 
the myriad vessels on the bay teemed with jolly tars, 
huzzaing and firing guns with a deafening effect ; and 
as we steamed abreast of the Presidio, a heavy salute 
boomed forth from the fortification that seemed a solemn 
amen to the godspeeds of the people. 

Once clear of the Gate, we headed about and left a 
straight wake for the island of Unalaska. Unlike the 
buoyant hearts of her company, the vessel was weighted 
down below the ordinary line of immersion, and conse- 
quently our progress was slow. The fair weather that 
attended our departure continued in the Pacific until 
the Aleutian Group was approached, when fogs set in, 
and, by the time the Aqueton Pass was reached, grew 
so dense that it became necessary to anchor and await 
their lifting. Even then the breakers had been danger- 
ously neared, for though the islands were invisible, the 
sea-birds could be distinctly heard cawing on the rocks. 

At last the fog lifted from around the Jeannette, and, 
after a pleasant voyage of twenty-five days, the island of 
Unalaska hove in sight. 

Here, through the kindness of the Alaska Fur Com- 



OFF FOR THE POLE. 3 

pany, a large number of deer-skins, seal-skin blankets, 
and other furs, to be made up for use during the expedi- 
tion, were added to our cargo. 

With a fresh supply of coal we then departed from 
Unalaska, and, crossing the shallow sea of Behring, ar- 
rived safely at St. Michael's, in Norton Sound, — an old 
Russian trading-post, with a dilapidated block-house, and 
several ancient cast-iron guns, which were fired in honor 
of the Jeannette's arrival. It was here that the schooner 
Fanny A. Hyde was to meet the ship with our last supply 
of coal ; but, as she was considerably overdue, the pro- 
visions were restowed, and the undressed skins sent on 
shore to be made into clothing by the natives. 

Here, too, Alexia, our faithful hunter, and his compan- 
ion, the womanly-looking Iniguin, joined the ship. Poor 
Alexia, after a grand palaver with the head man of the 
village, shipped as hunter and dog-driver. The evening 
of our departure, the natives thronged on board to bid 
their friends farewell. Alexia, dressed in " store clothes " 
furnished by the Alaska Company's agent, with a tile- 
topped Russian hat encircled by a broad red band, was 
accompanied by his wife, small, shy, and pretty, and their 
little boy. Clinging together hand in hand, they wan- 
dered and wondered with all the curiosity of children 
about the ship, until at last with many doubts and fears 
they affectionately parted, and forever. 

Attended by our convoy, we now started across Nor- 
ton Sound, a large sheet of water making westward into 
the eastern coast of Siberia. During the passage a heavy 
gale was encountered, affording us an opportunity to ob- 
serve the vessel's strength and action. The shallow 
ocean was troubled and choppy, and at times great seas 
would roll completely over the deeply-freighted ship as 
over a sunken rock ; but Gibraltar itself was not more 
firm. The day following the gale, we drew near to 
Lutke, a beautiful harbor just to the southward of East 



4 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Cape, where American whalemen often resort to secure 
recruits from the native Tchuchees before proceeding on 
the cruise north of Behring Strait, or after " the catch " 
to " try out " their oil. As the ship stood in towards 
the mouth of the harbor, huts were descried on the hill- 
side; and shortly after two bidaras- — large walrus-skin 
boats, somewhat similar to the oomiaJcs of the Green- 
landers — were seen putting oft' from the shore and ap- 
proaching us at a rapid rate. They contained a dozen 
or more natives, tall, greasy, brawny fellows, none 
weighing less than a hundred and eighty pounds. 

The two bidaras pulled alongside, and the natives 
boarding the ship, inquired, in broken English learned 
from the whalemen, if we came to hunt the walrus or the 
whale ; if so, they wished to engage themselves for the 
cruise. To prove their ability, they named the various 
whaling captains with whom they had served, and con- 
cluded with the more important information that Nor- 
denskj old's ship, the Vega, had been there in the bay of 
St. Lawrence, and had wintered beyond the peninsula 
in Kiolutian Bay, where they had visited her. 

And now the time was come to push off from the 
last vestige of civilization. The remainder of the coal 
and supplies was transferred from the schooner to the 
ship, and on the evening of the 27th day of August the 
two vessels stood out of the bay. Once clear of the 
shoals, we parted, — the Fanny A. Hyde sailing to the 
south, the Jeannette to the north, — and the cruise had 
begun in earnest. 

During the night we passed through the strait of Behr- 
ing, — between East Cape (the most easterly cape of Si- 
beria) and the Diomed Islands, three rocky little islets, 
the stepping-stones between two continents, — perhaps 
the foundations for that future bridge over which may 
run the engines of an all-rail route from Cape Horn to 
the Cape of Good Hope. A sharp lookout was kept for 



OFF FOR THE POLE. 5 

natives as the ship headed westward along the coast of 
Siberia, towards Cape Serdzekamen (" Heart of Stone "). 
Ice-hills and snow-gorged valleys were no longer a nov- 
elty ; but very cheerless and inhospitable looked the 
bleak black rocks, with no living thing in sight save a few 
sea-birds and an occasional walrus or seal. At length a 
collection of huts made their appearance, and the ship 
was run as close to the shore as possible. Captain De 
Long, with Alexia as interpreter and Mr. Dunbar as 
pilot, attempted a landing; but the heavy sea rolling 
and breaking over the ice-foot compelled him to return. 
The natives, knowing quieter water, then came to the 
ship in their skin boats. But Alexia was unable to un- 
derstand them, save that they wanted biscuits, molasses, 
and rum, especially rum ; so no additional information 
of Nordenskjold was obtained. Further on, another vil- 
lage was sighted, and Lieutenant Chipp sent on shore. 
He effected a landing, and through an old woman who 
formerly lived on King's Island in Norton Sound, and 
spoke the same tongue as Alexia, learned that the Vega 
had wintered in a bay still to the west, but had passed 
safely out of the ice toward the east, in the spring. 

Sailing westward, the seal and walrus became more 
plentiful. Numerous natives approached the ship, using 
with considerable dexterity bladders or floats to prevent 
their light skin boats from capsizing, or as fenders to 
ward them off from the ship's side, and as buoys when 
overladen with the spoils of the chase. In the vicinity 
of the Vega's winter-quarters, a large village was ob- 
served, and a party was sent on shore in command of 
Lieutenant Chipp. After a few hours the boat returned, 
bringing a number of articles, such as tin cans, Swedish 
money, and coat-buttons, which the natives — who men- 
tioned the names of certain of the Vega's officers, exhib- 
iting presents they had received from them, and who par- 
ticularly prized the refuse tin cans — said were relics of 



6 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Nordenskj old's stay there. A letter sewed up in canvas 
was given to the chief, with the request that he deliver 
it to the first vessel that passed that way. 

Having now executed the instructions of the Navy 
Department as to Nordenskjold and his party, we pushed 
northward to Kiolutian Bay, keeping constantly under 
way to prevent the formation of ice around the ship, and 
skirting along the edge of the pack, the density of which 
gradually forced us to the east. Working in and out of 
the leads of water for several days, and preserving as 
northerly a course as possible, Herald Island was at 
length sighted on the evening of September 4th. Every 
opening in the pack with the least northing to it had 
now been tried, with the same fruitless result of being 
crowded off to the eastward ; so that there was positively 
nothing else to be done than to push boldly in towards 
Wrangel Land (long regarded as a large continent ex- 
tending to the Pole), and seek a harbor during the fall, 
winter, and spring. The absurd question has often been 
asked, " Why did the Jeannette enter the ice-pack ? " 
The answer is this : she was an Arctic ship bound on a 
polar voyage, and could not be expected to attain the 
Pole without encountering ice. The best authorities 
pointed out a continent connecting Wrangel Land with 
Greenland ; the currents setting among the islands to 
the Atlantic Ocean were well known ; the rotation of the 
earth should carry all things from west to east ; and it 
was fair to presume that, if caught in the ice north of 
Herald Island, the ship would drift on the coast of 
Wrangel Land, or to the northeast toward Prince Pat- 
rick Land. 

But " the best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft 
a-gley." As we crowded to the west, the ice set in be- 
hind and effectually cut off all chances of retreat, unless 
the autumn gales and rolling seas might break up the 
floe. A whale-ship was observed looking for game along 



OFF FOR THE POLE. 7 

the edge of the pack, and it was afterward regretted 
that she had not been spoken for the mail. But we 
pushed slowly ahead, with the aid of the hoisting-engine, 
making a warp, until the 6th of September ; when the 
hummocks and masses of ice became solid during the 
night, and the ship was frozen in with a list to starboard 
at an angle of ten or twelve degrees, rendering motion 
on the decks or sleeping in the berths very uncomfort- 
able. Only once was she freed, and then but for an 
hour or two, until the final crush in June, 1881. 

The crew now dispersed themselves in merry squads 
upon the floe, and the dogs were turned loose. Each 
man was armed with a pike or staff with which to steady 
himself when leaping from hummock to hummock, or as 
a protection when slipping into ice-holes — a frequent oc- 
currence. Bears were seen, but they kept at a safe dis- 
tance during the daytime, and would make off in hot 
haste when pursued by the " whoop, hurrah ! " of the 
crew. At night, the ice — as they are better named by 
Norwegian and Dane, instead of polar — bears would cir- 
cumambulate the vessel many times, critically examining 
the stout hawser that held her to a large ice-anchor, and 
regularly escaping the notice of the watch, and of forty- 
one dogs, who were shy and timid until they had tasted 
the good things that followed a successful bear hunt. 
And a most exciting sport is this. The pack of dogs run 
yelping and snapping at the heels of poor Ursus, who 
dashes across the floe in the direction of rougher coun- 
try or open water with the ungracefulness of a cow but 
the speed of a deer, causing the snow to fly like feathers 
in a gale, and leaving dogs and hunters far in the rear. 
Often his curiosity will get the better of his judgment, 
and he will stop to inspect these strange creatures that 
dare put him to flight ; for he is monarch of the polar 
regions, seal and walrus falling an easy prey to one blow 
of his powerful fore-paw. Raising himself on his hind- 



8 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

legs, he surveys the howling pack half in wonder, half 
in contempt, until the fleetest hunter may come within 
range, when Ursus, perceiving a new and more formida- 
ble enemy, drops on all-fours, and is off again. Selecting 
a level amphitheatre surrounded by high hummocks, 
where he imagines himself secure, he makes a final stand, 
and woe betide the dogs ; for he is a wonderful boxer, 
and every blow is a fatal one. But the Remington 
breech-loader comes into play ; the slaughter of the canine 
foe is checked, and poor Ursus is dead. In a hunt such 
as this, Mr. Dunbar killed a bear weighing about one 
thousand pounds, and having a coat of snowy whiteness, 
with a single shot ; the only time that feat was accom- 
plished during the cruise. 

Meanwhile the Jeannette had been steadily drifting 
toward Herald Island, and as it was quite certain that she 
would be carried by it to the northwest, it became impor- 
tant that a landing should be attempted, in order to erect 
a cairn and leave records there. For this purpose, a 
party consisting of Lieutenant Chipp, Mr. Dunbar, and 
myself, with Alexia as dog-driver, was fitted out, and pro- 
visioned for a week. It was thought that the ice closed in 
on Herald Island ; but when we came within a few miles 
of the land, long lanes of open water were found, com- 
pletely cutting off further progress. It would have been 
sheer folly to await the freezing of the water and then 
make a dash for the foot of the precipitous rocks, without 
the aid of a boat. The ship was rapidly moving past ; 
no food could possibly have been found on the island, 
and in case of a separation from the Jeannette we must 
inevitably starve. Taking this view of the situation, we 
reluctantly turned back. 

And still the floe continued to drift toward Wrangel 
Land. Soundings were taken daily, and observations 
daily and nightly. A " drift lead " was kept constantly in 
place to indicate the impulse of the ice ; and the bottom 



OFF FOR THE POLE. 9 

of the sea was dragged for samples of its natural history. 
Each officer had his special duty, and the whole ship's 
company worked together as a unit. At times, the choice 
library on board would be ransacked for authorities, when 
the officers, who had been students and observers in all 
climes, and could be cheerful under all conditions of life, 
would engage in friendly scientific discussion in the little 
cabin. Thus, without the appearance of the expected 
gales, October passed pleasantly away. The ice had been 
comparatively quiet ; now and then low rumbling sounds 
being transmitted through the floe from distant disturb- 
ances. Toward the end of the month Wrangel Land was 
in plain sight, and it was quite evident that the much- 
boasted continent was a small island, high and mountain- 
ous. When probably at the most northeasterly point to 
the land, the ship was found shoaling water at sixteen 
fathoms, and as the floe crowded by the island, it was 
cast up in great ridges ; cracks ran across it in all direc- 
tions, and the grinding and crushing of the tortured 
masses sounded like the roar of distant artillery. The 
ship became entirely surrounded by the towering, tele- 
scoping hills of ice. Huge floe-bergs as large as churches 
bobbed up and down like whales. The situation was now 
most perilous ; for even could the vessel sustain the enor- 
mous pressure thus brought to bear upon her, there was 
imminent danger of the hummocks and " bits " weighing 
from twenty to fifty tons toppling over, as they were on 
all sides, and crushing or burying her. In view of the 
impending disaster, preparations were made for abandon- 
ing the ship — a hopeless prospect ; when suddenly the 
floe split along the port side parallel with the keel, leav- 
ing a long lane of open water, with the starboard side 
still imbedded in the ice as in a mould. 

This was the moment of extreme danger. Should the 
floe-pieces come together again and overlap or underrun, 
the Jeannette would be crushed like an egg-shell. They 



10 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

separated nearly a thousand yards, and then slowly ap- 
proached. The poor ship began to creak and groan with 
the immense strain ; but fortunately the ice, ranging 
ahead, acted as a protection. The decks bulged upward ; 
the oakum and pitch were squeezed out of the seams ; 
and a bucket, almost full of water, standing on the quar- 
ter-deck, was half emptied by the agitation. There was 
little sleep obtained ; those who turned in doing so with 
their clothes on. Yet the discipline of the ship's com- 
pany was perfect. The men sang and joked with appar- 
ent sang froid, while they cleared the decks of ice or 
pushed away the overhanging masses that were crushing 
in the light bulwarks. The powerful trusses fitted in at 
Mare Island sturdily withstood the pressure; until at 
length the floe gave way somewhere beyond, and, as it 
went thundering by, an underrunning piece pushed the 
ship out from her bed into the open lead of water. Once 
again she was nearly caught stem and stern, but as dark- 
ness set in, the young ice began forming, and shortly af- 
terward she was completely frozen in, never to be released 
again until a day or two before the fatal 12th of June, 
1881. 



CHAPTER II. 

DRIFTING. 

Shipboard Economy. — A Frozen Wave. — Lead-Poisoning. — My 
Visit to Henrietta Island. 

Winter set in sharply. Excepting a few minor acci- 
dents in the shape of sprains and contusions, we enjoyed 
entire freedom from disease, and were in constant good 
humor, — all save Lieutenant Danenhower, who suffered 
under his terrible affliction from December of the first 
year until the end of the cruise. As the holidays drew 
nigh, the crew prepared for the usual theatricals ; and at 
Christmas all hands were summoned to the deck-house 
to witness a performance replete with jokes at the ex- 
pense of officers and men. 

Early in the experience of the expedition, a strange 
violation of an accepted physical law presented itself. 
In accordance with the laboratory teaching of our youth, 
we had presumed that sea-water passed through the pro- 
cess of freezing yielded perfectly fresh ice. Floe ice was 
known to be salty, but it was confidently expected that 
fresh-water snow would be found; and yet it was not. 
Those who were conversant with the histories of pre- 
vious Arctic voyages — and nothing of the kind written 
in the English language had escaped the reading of many 
— were aware that heretofore no difficulty had been en- 
countered in procuring fresh water for potable purposes 
from bergs or land snow. There are, however, no bergs 
proper in this ocean, except those which drop from the 



12 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

small islands, and they are so rare that the only ones 
met with were seen by my party when we landed at 
Henrietta Island. 

So a distilling apparatus, capable of yielding forty gal- 
lons a day, was constructed, and a supply of melted snow 
kept constantly in tanks on the cabin and forecastle 
stoves ; one large tank being fitted behind the galley to 
absorb the radiant heat. 

And the old year left us busied in this wise with the 
multiform details of shipboard economy. 

Throughout the month of January, 1880, the ice was 
restless, and the ship experienced many jars and strains. 
Each gale was followed by the jamming up of the floes ; 
and it was observed that during the continuance of the 
wind the whole body of ice moved evenly before it, but 
when it subsided, the mass that had been put in motion 
crowded and tumbled upon the far-off floes at rest, piling 
tumultuously upward in a manner terrific to behold. 

It was in one of these oppressive intervals succeeding 
a gale, when the roar and crash of the distant masses 
could be distinctly heard, that the floe in which the 
Jeannette was imbedded began splitting in all directions. 
The placid and almost level surface of ice suddenly 
heaved and swelled into great hills, buzzing and wheez- 
ing dolefully. Giant blocks pitched and rolled as though 
controlled by invisible hands, and the vast compressing 
bodies shrieked a shrill and horrible song that curdled the 
blood. On came the frozen waves, nearer and nearer. 
Seams ran and rattled across them with a thundering 
boom, while silent and awestruck we watched their ter- 
rible progress. Sunk in an amphitheatre, about five 
eighths of a mile in diameter, lay the ship, the great 
bank of moving ice, puffed in places to a height of fifty 
feet, gradually inclosing her on all sides. Preparations 
were made for her abandonment, but, — what then ? If 
the mighty circle continued to decrease, escape was hope- 



DRIFTING. 13 

less, death inevitable. To think of scrambling up the 
slippery sides of the rolling mass would be of equal folly 
with an attempt to scale the falling waters of Niagara. 

" The ice is approaching at the rate of one yard per 
minute. It is three hundred paces distant ; so in three 
hundred minutes we shall pass over to the Great Be- 
yond." 

Thus one of the crew announced his computation of 
the time, distance, and calamity. Certain it is that had 
the Jeannette been two hundred yards in any direction 
out of the exact spot she then occupied on the floe, she 
would have been overwhelmed and destroyed by the 
grinding masses, as readily as a " sojer crab " on the 
beach is buried beneath the roll of the surf. But her 
time had not yet come. The terrible circle slowly con- 
tracted to within a few hundred feet, and then stopped 
— stopping our prayers ; and all was quiet, save the roar 
of the underrunning floes at the bottom of the ship. 

With light hearts the men dispersed themselves upon 
the ice, climbing the slopes of the marble -like basin, 
leaping from block to block, clambering up pinnacles and 
tumbling down with laughter, calling each other's atten- 
tion to the marvelous shapes and positions of the con- 
fused heaps, speculating upon the chances of escape 
had such an one toppled over on the vessel, all hailing 
and shouting in boyish glee, — when, suddenly, the dread 
cry of " Man the pumps ! " put a check to their short- 
lived sport, and sent every one scudding back. 

Hand-pumps were at once rigged and operated with 
all the vigor of the stoutest men ; another gang removed 
the provisions from the fore-hold, while a third filled 
the boiler with water, ice, snow, and slush from the 
bilges. The temperature at this time was about 40° Fah- 
renheit below zero, and as the water rushed into the 
hold it almost instantly froze. Pouring steadily in, it 
crept above the fire-room floor, and fears were enter- 



14 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

tained that it might reach the boiler furnaces before the 
steam-pumps could be started. To prevent this, and 
keep the after-hold dry, the water was hoisted out of 
the hatch by means of a barrel. Time meant life or 
death. The flood was rapidly rising in the bilges ; so 
the furnace was fired long before the boiler had received 
its regulation supply, and soon the steam giant was cast- 
ing out the water at such a rate as to win from Jack 
Cole the admiring observation, — " No i Spell O ! ' (the 
relief call at the pump brake) for that chap." 

Winter passed swiftly by, and the bright spring sun, 
melting the snow, opened up a fresh field of labor by re- 
vealing the hideous results of forty dogs and thirty- three 
men living in one spot for six months. Nor was it with- 
out considerable anxiety that the approach of warmer 
weather was observed. The ship, indeed, would be free ; 
but was she not leaky, and the supply of coal fast 
failing ? How long would the spars, masts, and upper 
works of the hull hold out after all other fuel had been 
consumed ? These were questions which we could not 
consider without alarm. 

Northwest winds prevailed in the early spring and 
drove the ship within sight of Herald Island, or Wrangel 
Land, and about fifty miles from the point where we had 
entered the ice the preceding fall. During this time, we 
had drifted nearly five hundred miles in a zigzag course, 
and so persistently from northwest to southeast that I 
conceived the existence of two banks or shoals between 
which we had been moving, or perhaps two great packs 
of ice, the Polar pack to the north and the Siberian 
pack to the south, which latter shifted on and off the 
coast of Siberia with the changing winds and seasons. A 
canal covered with broken ice was thus formed, and 
hemmed in between the impenetrable floes and floe- 
bergs. 

The winter of 1880-81 passed by without much inci- 



DRIFTING. 15 

dent. The novelty of life on the ice had worn off. Our 
supplies of jokes and stories were completely exhausted, 
and their points had long ago been dulled by much hand- 
ling. The ship's company, fore and aft, had found their 
affinities ; and congenial spirits began to walk, talk, and 
hunt together in couples. In the cabin there was more 
reading and less conversation, and the senior officers 
seemed daily bound by a closer band. Stricter attention 
was paid to all the sanitary regulations of the ship, par- 
ticularly to the distillation of water, the preparation of 
food, the ship's ventilation, and the healthful exercise of 
the men. 

This was our second winter in the ice ; and in the his- 
tory of all previous expeditions, scurvy, the bane of the 
Arctic voyager, had made its dread appearance long ere 
such an interval had elapsed. Why were we exempt? 
How long would we thus remain blessed above all other 
crews? Like vegetables grown in the dark, we were 
bleached to an unnatural pallor ; and as spring approached 
all exhibited signs of debility. Sleep was fortunately 
peaceful and undisturbed, by reason of the floe's solid- 
ity ; but certain members of the mess were attacked with 
fits of indigestion ; Mr. Dunbar became very ill; and an 
ugly ulcer appeared on Alexia's leg accompanied by 
other symptoms which raised suspicions of the presence 
of scurvy. 

At length, an epidemic seemed to break out among 
the whole company. Dr. Ambler was diligent in his 
search for the cause. There were no evidences of scurvy 
save in Alexia's case, and his was extremely doubtful. 
Finally the patients showed symptoms of lead poisoning, 
and the question at once arose, whence came the lead ? 
A few grains of shot found in the bodies of birds (guille- 
mots) served for dinner one day sufficed to direct the 
conversation to the subject that was uppermost in the 
minds of all ; and at the same time, some one chancing 



16 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

upon several pellets of solder in the canned tomatoes, it 
was jocularly asked, " Who shot the tomatoes ? " which 
resulted in bringing to light the raison d'etre of the poi- 
soning. Knowing how deadly wine might become by 
the dissolution of a single grain of shot left in the bottle 
from its cleansing, it was easy to understand how the 
acid fruits and vegetables had absorbed their noxious 
properties from the many drops of solder, composed of 
equal parts of lead and tin. And this cumulative poison- 
ing had been in progress for months ! Nor, as investiga- 
tion proved, were these pellets the only source of the mal- 
ady. Aware of the manufacturer's practice of covering 
certain qualities of sheet tin with solder, the cans were 
inspected, and many found to be coated with black oxide 
of lead. Scraping this off and analyzing it, Dr. Ambler 
became altogether satisfied as to the origin of the " epi- 
demic." 

It was at the beginning of this dark period in the his- 
tory of our cruise that the cheering cry of " Land ho ! " 
rang out from the crow's-nest. The ice had been slowly 
disintegrating for weeks, and Mr. Dunbar, our ancient 
mariner and Arctic authority, had declared a week be- 
fore that something to the leeward was obstructing and 
breaking up the floe. Now, a faint line on the horizon 
with a stationary cloud above it indicated the presence 
of land. At once, all the younger prophets, — who had 
for months been seeing vast continents in the shape of 
various clouds, which they assiduously plotted on charts 
and named, only to be as regularly laughed at, — turned 
out, aloft, below, and on the high hummocks, to scan with 
glasses, or without, the discovered country. There it 
was, sure enough ; and all were as elated as though a 
second Goshen, or still better our own peerless land of 
peers, had sprung into view. Speculation was rife as to 
its distance, size, and inhabitability ; sketches were as 
plentiful as ticks in a southern forest ; some of the far- 



DRIFTING. 17 

seeing enthusiasts distinctly descried reindeer moving 
about ; and others of still greater ken could plainly dis- 
tinguish the buck from the doe. 

Meanwhile, Mr. Dunbar, with that keenness of vision 
that comes from forty years' experience at sea, had espied 
another and separate land beyond, much smaller and 
lower than the first. As the whole floe was in a swirl, 
and the Jeannette was drifting rapidly to the northwest, 
the question arose, was it possible to visit the strange 
island, and return in safety? General opinion was ad- 
verse to the success of the undertaking, albeit there was 
no scarcity of volunteers. Messrs. Chipp, Danenhower, 
and Newcomb were prostrated in the cabin ; so it was 
decided that I should go, accompanied by Mr. Dunbar, 
and a picked four of the crew: namely, Mndemann, 
Bartlett, Ericksen, and Sharvell. We were supplied 
with provisions for ten days, and a small boat mounted 
on a sled drawn by fifteen dogs. 

Early in the morning, followed by the cheers and good- 
wishes of our shipmates, we were off, making a straight 
line for the island. The condition of the ice, grinding, 
crashing, and telescoping, sometimes pitching and roll- 
ing in such a manner as to render foothold impossible, 
made our enterprise a particularly perilous one. 

Difficulties beset us at the very start. Not five hun- 
dred yards from the ship, we came to a lead of water, 
and dismounting the boat, ferried over the sled and sup- 
plies ; but nothing could induce the dogs to follow suit. 
They howled and fought, all resisting with might and 
main, and a few breaking or slipping from their harness 
and scampering back to the ship. The thermometer re- 
gistered many degrees below freezing point ; the boat 
was covered with ice, our clothes were wet, and our 
hands frost-bitten. The deserters were at length cap- 
tured and returned by the men on board ship, and again 
fastened in harness. A rope, tied to their traces, was 
2 



18 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

then stretched across the lead (scarcely twenty yards in 
width), the whole team pushed into the water, and thus 
pulled and urged across. It was cruel, I know, but there 
was no alternative ; and once over, and rehitched to the 
sleds, the poor shivering brutes were soon warming them- 
selves in the hard work ahead of them. We were all 
equipped with " ruy ruddies " (canvas harness) to assist 
the dogs in hauling; and as the snow was waist-deep 
they were almost buried at times. Mr. Dunbar ran on 
before, leading the way among the hummocks, the rest of 
us steadying and pushing the sled, two on each side and 
one behind. Now and then, the team would come to a 
halt, and everything — a matter of 1,900 pounds — must 
be unloaded, since it is absolutely impossible to induce 
or compel a dog-team to pull in concert until the sled is 
first put in motion. 

There is no greater violence done the eternal cause of 
truth than in those pictures where the Esquimaux are 
represented as calmly sitting in shoe-shaped sleds, with 
the lashes of their long whips trailing gracefully behind, 
while the dogs dash in full cry and perfect unison across 
smooth expanses of snow. If depicted " true to nature " 
the scene changes its aspect considerably ; it is quite as 
full of action, but not of progress. A pandemonium of 
horrors! Dogs yelling, barking, snapping, and fighting; 
the leaders in the rear, and the wheelers (?) in the mid- 
dle, all tied in a knot and as hopelessly tangled up as a 
basketful of eels. 

Thus retarded, we toiled on for twelve hours, making 
roads, filling up chasms with "hummocky bits," and 
jumping the team across them ; four times the boat was 
launched, and when evening came on we had traveled 
but four miles from the ship, and made no appreciable 
gain on the island. Nevertheless we erected our tent 
under the lee of a large hummock, supped, fed the 
dogs, and encasing ourselves in sleeping-bags lay down 



DRIFTING. 19 

on the snow, partially warmed by the dogs, which were 
curled on the flaps of the tent, and well pleased with 
our first day's progress. At six o'clock next morning 
we were up and active. Sharvell prepared a breakfast 
of pigs' feet and mutton broth heated together in a can, 
along with a cup of tea, while the rest of us stored the 
tent and hitched the team ; and by seven we were off 
again. 

After journeying forward in this way for three days, 
the island at length loomed up before us in all its cloud- 
crowned majesty. The black serrated rocks, rising pre- 
cipitously four hundred feet at the coast and towering 
inland to four times that height, bore at a distance the 
appearance of a vast heap of scorias discharged from 
some great blast furnace and streaked with veins of 
iron. They were grown over with moss and lichens, 
the tops capped with snow and ice and the highest peaks 
lost in the clouds. As we drew nearer we could dis- 
tinguish glaciers making down the gorges, and bold 
headlands standing, as they had been for ages, like sen- 
tinels, grimly challenging our strange advent. The si- 
lence was awful, was confounding, and the loneliness of 
our situation indescribably depressive. Before us, like a 
black monster, arose the lofty island, protected, to a cer- 
tain degree, from the endless grinding of the floes by an 
ice-foot, which extended in some places a half mile from 
the base. Here we stood lost in the contemplation of 
the wild tumult and rout before us. Millions of tons of 
blocks were piled up, as though they were the ghastly 
heaps of slain from the battle that was forever raging 
among the broken masses ; and great bodies of ice were 
incessantly fleeing, it seemed, from the mad pursuit of 
those behind ; now hurling themselves on top, and now 
borne down and buried by others. And it was through 
this chaos of ice that we must force our way to the 
island. 



20 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

A glance at the situation convinced me of the utter 
impossibility of accomplishing a passage by means of the 
boat ; and as we were fast drifting by, I determined to 
abandon it, together with the gear and most of the pro- 
visions, and make a dash for the land across the broken 
ice, jumping from bit to bit. It was a hazardous ex- 
pedient, the success of which must be greatly a matter 
of luck; and still more so, our escape from the island 
and recapture of the drifting boat and provisions. How- 
ever, we left these latter on a secure and elevated floe- 
piece ; on the tallest hummock of which, as a guide for 
our retreat, we raised an oar with a black flag lashed to 
it, and Ericksen's old felt hat on top as a liberty cap. 
Then with the tent, guns, instruments, and one day's 
provisions mounted on the sled, we started in a gallop 
for the island. The dogs were trained to follow a leader ; 
so one of us ran on ahead, relieved in turn by the others, 
who jogged along with the sled and occasionally rested 
upon it. But when we reached the broken ice, the team 
stopped and refused to follow the leader. Poor brutes, 
they knew full well what it was to be dragged through 
the water, and hauled out coated with a sheet of ice, 
more dead than alive. So with the floe bits rolling 
under their feet they turned round, yelping in an agony 
of dread, and darted in all directions, the men shouting 
and belaboring them in vain ; man and dog now splash- 
ing in the water, and now clambering out; raised at 
times high up in the air by the pressure of the under- 
running floes, only to plunge down again or roll over. 
Mr. Dunbar had become snow-blind, and was now 
perched on the sled, greatly to the old gentleman's dis- 
gust. It was the first time in his life that he had ever 
broken down, and it grieved him sorely. He begged in 
the most distressing manner to be left on the ice rather 
than retard our progress ; but directing him to hold fast, 
I finally seized the head dog by the neck with my " ruy 



DRIFTING. 21 

ruddy," and, followed by the others, sprang forward, 
dragging team and all after me. Then we waded and 
struggled through the posh and water, the sled wholly 
immersed, with Mr. Dunbar still clinging to the cross- 
bars and Ericksen performing herculean feats of strength. 
More than once, when the sled stuck fast, did he place 
his brawny shoulders under the boot and lift it bodily 
out. Indeed, we all toiled so hard that when the ridge 
at the edge of the ice-foot was reached, we were barely 
able to crawl over it and drag Dunbar from the sea like 
some great seal. 

A brief rest, with supper, and I then proceeded to 
take formal possession of the island. Marching over the 
ice-foot, without observing any regular order of proces- 
sion, I, as a commissioned officer and proper representa- 
tive of the Government, landed first ; and, having claimed 
the island as the territory of the United States, invited 
my companions on shore, Hans Ericksen carrying the 
colors. The ground was then named Henrietta, in honor 
of Mr. Bennett's mother, and baptized with a few — a 
very few — drops of corn extract from a small but precious 
wicker bottle that had been placed in the boat-box for 
medicinal purposes. After which ceremony, a greater 
number (and yet too few) of drops from the same ves- 
sel being allotted to each member of the party, Mr. 
Dunbar and myself kept camp while the rest rambled a 
short distance inland. 

The sun at this time was above the horizon the whole 
twenty-four hours, although it had not been visible, by 
reason of the foggy weather, since we left the ship. 
Snow-storms prevailed to such an extent that the island 
had been completely cut off from view two hours before 
our landing; we having traveled a compass course. So 
when I awoke the next morning at ten o'clock, I at once 
supposed that we had overslept ourselves ; my orders 
having been to remain no longer than twenty-four hours 



22 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

on the island, and here we had wasted one-half of that 
allowance in the arms of Morpheus. Hastily calling the 
men, who yawned and turned out saying they were too 
tired to rest well, I directed the performance of the day's 
labors. A cairn was built on a bold, high headland, 
named by Mr. Dunbar "Melville's Head," but after- 
wards changed on the chart to " Bald Head ; " and in 
this we buried a zinc case containing papers, and a cop- 
per cylinder containing a record written by Captain De 
Long. 

I then made a running survey of the island by compass, 
Ericksen and Bartlett reading the instrument while I 
sketched and recorded. The others ran over the largest 
portion of the eastern end of the land, naming many of 
its prominent features ; and Sharvell shot a few peteu- 
larkies and guillemots, which nestled among the rocks in 
great numbers. These were the only birds seen ; indeed, 
we saw no other living thing upon Henrietta Island. 

Flushed now with the success of our undertaking, we 
once more restowed the sled and set out for the ship, 
halting briefly when a mile from the shore, while I took 
the bearings of the principal promontories and mountain 
peaks from which to plot a map of the island. The re- 
treat was a more difficult task than the landing. We 
had drifted far to the northwest ; the ice was moving 
more rapidly, driving and grinding with greater force ; 
and the ship, though plainly in sight from the high 
grounds of the island, could not be seen on the floe. 
The boat was nowhere in view, and the ice, growing more 
and more broken at every step, seemed alive. Mr. Dun- 
bar was totally blind for the time being, and as the dogs 
were running briskly, it was necessary for him, in order 
to keep up with us, to ride on the sled. At one time, 
forcing our way through a stream of posh, we had no 
more than gained the rounded surface of a small floe- 
piece shaped like a whale's back, than it began rolling 



DRIFTING. 23 

to and fro, after trie manner of Sindbad the Sailor's ad- 
venture. Every one, dogs included, crouched down and 
awaited events, knowing the floe-piece must soon turn 
over one way or the other. This it finally did in the 
very direction we wanted to go, spilling us safely, and 
the most of us dryly, on the edge of the main floe. But 
not so the dogs, among whom there was unfortunately a 
diversity of opinion as to the proper course to pursue ; 
so the majority of them went yelping overboard, and 
dragged the sled, with Mr. Dunbar sprawled out on top, 
bodily through the slush and water to the firm ice, while 
we roared with laughter. 

Shaking out our soaked sled-load of animate and in- 
animate freight, we again started forward toward the 
ship in the direction of the spot where we had aban- 
doned the boat. I now entertained fears of our not 
being able to find it, since we failed to encounter any of 
our previous tracks in the snow, and the whole aspect of 
the floe appeared to have undergone a change. At length, 
attaining a large floe -piece, and the weather clearing 
slightly, Ericksen espied from the top of a high hum- 
mock the flag-staff which we had raised in the vicinity of 
our boat, — a fortunate discovery, since we had consumed 
the one day's rations taken with us to the island. 

From this time on, until we reached the ship, the 
weather was miserable ; and guided altogether by com- 
pass we marched forward in the face of a cruel snow and 
wind storm, constantly impeded by open lanes and leads 
of water. When we camped, the second night after 
leaving the island, the storm was at its height. Notwith- 
standing the broken state of the ice I felt easy in mind, 
knowing that we must now be close upon the ship ; yet 
several of the party were suffering severely : Nindemann 
from an attack of cramps, and Ericksen, who since the 
failure of Mr. Dunbar's eyes had piloted the dogs and 
kept the sled in a compass course, from snow-blindness. 



24 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Poor Nindemann, drawn and doubled up, was enduring 
the agonies of the lost, caused, no doubt, by lead poi- 
soning ; so directly after supper, and before I crawled 
into my sleeping-bag, I drew forth the medicine box 
furnished by Ambler and proceeded to " doctor " him. 
There could be no mistake. Inside the box were written 
instructions, and Nindemann wanted a cramp antidote ; 
Tine, capsicum, cognac, etc. But my fingers were cold 
and sore ; so Ericksen, who must have some sweet-oil to 
rub upon his damaged nose (big nose) and chafed body, 
would draw the corks. He drew them with a reckless 
abandon, spilling the tincture of capsicum (cayenne pep- 
per raised to the n th power) over his cracked and blis- 
tered hands. Then, losing his head completely, he applied 
the sweet-oil by means of his fiery fingers to the afflicted 
portions of his body. The result was at once a surprise 
to him and a delight to us. He rolled and squirmed about 
in the snow like an eel. Little Sharvell sensibly aug- 
mented the animation of the victim by suggesting that he 
disrobe and sit down in the snow to cool off ; but then, 
fearing that he might melt his way through the floe, 
further advised that he station himself on top of a lofty 
hummock. This brought about a new and delightful 
state of feeling in the tent. Nindemann laughed his 
cramps away, and Dunbar found time between his groans 
to shout out, — 

" Ericksen, are you hot enough to make the snow hiss ? 
If you are, the chief can extinguish the fire in the fore- 
castle and use you for a heater." 

The next morning, when the mists had lifted, we sighted 
the ship. Hoping to reach her before dinner-time, we 
pushed on over a course that grew more and more rugged, 
coming within a mile of her without attracting the atten- 
tion of any one on board. Finally, a running stream of 
ground ice checked our progress, and after vainly trying 
to avoid it by many detours, I decided to launch the boat ; 




1. Jeaunette men exercising. 2. In the crow's-nest. 3. The Jeannette crushed. 
4. A hunting party in luck. 



DRIFTING. 25 

but at this juncture one of the sled's runners gave way, 
and although we repaired it as best we could, it was yet 
too frail to sustain all the baggage. Anxious to get rid 
of the dogs and to place our blinded pilot on board ship at 
once, I started the sled laden with most of the equipment 
across the moving mass of hummocks, Mr. Dunbar lying 
at full length on top and stoutly protesting his ability to 
walk. It was no time for sentiment, so off they went, 
men and dogs yelling lustily ; Sharvell and I staying with 
the boat on the far side of the lead until relief could reach 
us from the ship. Soon we saw Jack Cole, the boat- 
swain, accompanied by a party of men, hastening in our 
direction. Following my orders, they abandoned the sled, 
and picked their way across the lead ; then by means of 
a long painter or tow-line, with a man on each side to 
support the boat, it was shortly hauled over. 

Captain De Long, his head bandaged up because of a 
bout with the windmill, and Dr. Ambler, came out to 
meet us ; and I cannot say which were more pleased, the 
greeters or the greeted. As for me, all toils and aches 
were amply compensated for by that welcome, " Well 
done, old fellow ; I am glad to see you back." And the 
doctor, generous soul that he was, inquiring first after the 
health of the party, said in his hearty way, " Old man, 
I am glad you have had the opportunity of first unfurl- 
ing our flag with honor." Not a demonstrative man 
was the doctor, but our hug was a close one and heart- 
felt. 

Before boarding the ship I was greatly surprised at dis- 
covering the hour of day to be only nine A. M. Sharvell 
and I, when left alone, had regaled ourselves with some 
hot broth, supposing it to be noontime. I found, upon 
comparing my own with the ship's chronometer, that it 
had not deviated, and so reached the conclusion that we 
had been prematurely awakened, when on the island, by 
the unusual brightness of the sun clearing away the 



26 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

clouds and fog and shining in upon us. Hence we must 
have started at three A. M., instead of six ; which ac- 
counts for our close, unnoticed approach to the ship with 
colors flying, before eight A. M., when the crew began to 
stir around. 



CHAPTER III. 
CAST UPON THE ICE. 

Life in the Upper Cabin. — Our Situation. — The Jeannette goes 
down. — Camping. — Marching. 

We now had new matter for discussion in the little 
cabin. Indeed there had never been a stagnation of ar- 
gument there, where all exchanged ideas freely, and 
courted criticism. Some of the opinions promulgated 
therein were no less interesting than original. For in- 
stance, one of the mess, ever happy and contented, con- 
sidered it a very fortunate thing indeed that the ship 
leaked, inasmuch as the men were thereby " trained and 
exercised ; " and it was so cheerful to lie awake in his 
berth at night listening to the merry "chug" of the 
pump ! 

But now we devoted our time to the consideration of 
the serious circumstances which, so thickly beset us. We 
were all persuaded that the chances of the ship holding 
together, in the present state of the ice, were not one 
in a thousand. Yet she might ; but what then ? This 
was the supreme question which constantly presented it- 
self to the minds of all : whether it would not be wiser 
to abandon the ship at once, and make for the nearest 
land (New Siberian Islands), instead of tarrying for the 
fall travel. De Long naturally wished to stay by the ship 
until the end, or so long as the provisions lasted, propos- 
ing that we remain until they had dwindled down to an 
allowance of ninety days for our retreat. Had a vote 



28 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

been taken of those who gave the matter their undivided 
thought, there is scarcely any doubt in my mind but that 
a majority would have decided to abandon the vessel 
about the middle of June. 

However, we had no discretion whatever in the mat- 
ter. She left us, after sheltering us for so many dreary 
months ; delivering us, Caesar-like, upon the floe, amid 
the crashing of her poor old ribs. 

On the evening of June 10th the motion of the ice 
became more violent, the floes far and near cracking 
and grinding continually. In the silence of the night, 
when most of the company had retired, the ice started to 
split around us with fearful frequency ; each successive 
shock being transmitted to the ship as to a centre, and 
resounding with awful distinctness upon her sides like 
death strokes. That night it was my tour from nine to 
twelve P. M., and as officer of the watch it was part of 
my duty to record the readings of the instruments placed 
on the ice. Just before the bell struck eight for the mid- 
night hour, and while I was yet on the gang plank mak- 
ing my way towards the observatory, a sharp report like 
that of a gun rang out on the air, starting the company 
from their bunks. The floe had split fore and aft on a 
line with our keel, and the ship, oscillating for a few min- 
utes, came at last to a rest with her starboard side close 
to the ice, the other floe-piece, on which were the dogs, 
observatory, and a few small articles, moving off to a 
distance of a hundred yards or more. 

Our situation was now full of peril. 

" Well," said De Long in cheery tones to Dunbar, 
" what do you think of it ? " 

" She will either be under the floe or on top of it be- 
fore to-morrow night," replied he. 

And so it was. 

After the ship had been hauled ahead and fastened 
within a little cove affording a slight protection, all 



CAST UPON THE ICE. 29 

hands save the watch turned in. Before seven o'clock 
the next morning the detatched floe-piece, cruelly pro- 
longing our fate, had approached alongside of us, and 
backed off again. Breakfast over, certain of the men, ac- 
cording to custom, started off hunting, leaving the rest of 
us to ponder our predicament. Once more the ice drew 
near, this time closing with the ship and squeezing her 
gently, as though to test her mettle. The poor Jean- 
nette groaned, and the attacking floe, apparently satis- 
fied, eased off. Meanwhile, there were no signs of trep- 
idation among officers or men. The usual signal was 
given for the return of the hunters, and they came strag- 
gling in as if ignorant of the impending disaster. Yet 
all were aware of it, and fully appreciated how imminent 
it was. Preparations had been made for such a catas- 
trophe ever since we entered the ice ; every officer and 
man had his appointed duty to perform, and hence there 
was neither noise nor confusion when it did occur. 

About three o'clock in the afternoon the ice was quiet, 
the sun shining brightly, and the position of the vessel so 
strikingly picturesque that De Long told me to bring out 
the camera and photograph her. I had been acting as 
photographer during the voyage, and had taken a num- 
ber of fine views, — all of which, however, were lost with 
the ship. While developing my plate in the dark room, 
word was passed for all hands to abandon ship, calling 
every one except the sick to his post. Under Captain 
De Long's direction, the colors were hoisted to the mast- 
head, the boats lowered, and, together with the sleds, 
tents, provisions, and general equipment, placed on the 
ice about five hundred yards back from the edge. Dr. 
Ambler took charge of the sick, and with the aid of sev- 
eral men rescued his medical stores. Mr. Chipp was the 
only patient who really required assistance, and this 
there were many hands to tender, he being a favorite 
with all. Everything was conducted quietly but vigor- 



30 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

ously, and superintended by De Long, who stood coolly 
smoking his pipe on the ship's bridge. 

As the ice continued crowding in, the ship heeled over 
more and more, until it became impossible to stand on 
deck without clinging to something. The forecastle 
watch had supped, and the others were about to follow 
suit, when the water suddenly began to rise, and so 
swiftly that many could not escape by the ladder and 
companion-way, but were forced to leap through the deck 
ventilator. So those of us at work on floe and deck lost 
the last evening meal. 

Every one at length having left the vessel, De Long 
jumped on the floe, and waving his cap cried, " Good 
by, old ship ! " then commanding that thereafter no one 
should venture on board of her. 

We now set about preparing our camp, tenting, as had 
been arranged months before, by boat crews, in command 
of the officers originally detailed, except Lieutenant 
Chipp ; whose tent, by reason of his sickness, was given 
in charge of Mr. Dunbar. Our boats consisted of the 
first cutter (to have two tents), the second cutter, the 
first whale-boat, and the second whale-boat ; but consid- 
ering the long march ahead of us before we might meet 
with open water, if, indeed, we came up with any at all, 
Captain De Long very wisely concluded to reserve but 
three boats ; so the second whale-boat, being the most un- 
wieldy, was left hanging at the davits. The tents erected, 
the coffee made, and supper eaten, we finally turned in. 

And here we were, cast out upon the ice five hundred 
miles from the mouth of the Lena River, our nearest 
hope of succor ; with a sick list, and a limited supply of 
food. Yet, although the seriousness of our situation was 
appreciated by all, none were despondent, many merry, 
and shortly after the boatswain " piped down," the whole 
camp was lost in slumber. 

And thankful were we to make our beds on snow in- 



CAST UPON THE ICE. 31 

stead of beneath the sea, where honest Jack so often 
finds his endless rest. Honest Jack ! Proverbial for 
his growling, when the day is fair and life is rosy ; for 
his cheerfulness, in times of danger and distress. 

We had slept but a few hours when a loud report like 
that of a cannon awoke us. The floe had split in every 
direction, one crack making directly into our camp 
through the centre of De Long's tent; and had it not 
been for the weight of the sleepers on either end of the 
rubber blanket, those in the middle must inevitably have 
dropped into the sea. As it was, they were rescued with 
great difficulty ; and in an instant the camp was alive 
again. Although the boats, sleds, and provisions had 
been placed close to the tents to avoid separation by 
just such a happening as this, we now found ourselves 
drifting slowly away from them. Boards were at once 
thrown across the crack, nimble feet sped back and 
forth, the sleds and boats were successfully jumped over, 
and when the gap had widened beyond the length of the 
planks, a way was discovered around it. The provisions 
recovered, our tents were quickly shifted farther back 
from the edge of the floe, and we were soon dozing again 
in our sleeping-bags. During the early hours of the 
morning Kiihne, the watch, had attentively observed the 
ship, as she swayed to and fro, creaking and groaning 
with the movements of the ice. Towards four o'clock, 
the hour for him to summon relief, he suddenly an- 
nounced, in addition to his stage whisper to Bartlett, 
" Turn out, if you want to see the last of the Jeannette. 
There she goes ! There she goes ! " 

Most of us had barely time to arise and look out, 
when, amid the rattling and banging of her timbers and 
iron-work, the ship righted and stood almost upright; 
the floes that had come in and crushed her slowly backed 
off ; and as she sank with slightly accelerated velocity, 
the yard-arms were stripped and broken upward parallel 



32 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

to the masts ; and so, like a great, gaunt skeleton clap- 
ping its hands above its head, she plunged out of sight. 
Those of us who saw her go down, did so with mingled 
feelings of sadness and relief. We were now utterly iso- 
lated, beyond any rational hope of aid ; with our proper 
means of escape, to which so many pleasant associations 
attached, destroyed before our eyes ; and hence it was 
no wonder we felt lonely, and in a sense that few can 
appreciate. But we were satisfied, since we knew full 
well that the ship's usefulness had long ago passed away, 
and we could now start at once, the sooner the better, 
on our long march to the south. 

It was nearly a week before we were ready to take up 
our march, and during this time a thorough organization 
of the crew was effected. No matter what the issue 
might be, we were all overjoyed when the day of depart- 
ure at last arrived. Certainly, judging from the march- 
ing experiences of all previous Arctic expeditions, we 
had a most dismal prospect ahead of us. The crew of 
the Thegetoff, it is true, all escaped ; but they had been 
so fortunate as to encounter open water less than one 
degree of latitude from where they abandoned their 
ship. And only by a similar good fortune could we 
hope to make good our retreat ; for all these marches 
were as mere bagatelles compared with the one before 
us. 

Previous to the loss of the ship, Captain De Long had 
taken accurate observations for position almost daily, 
and after we were cast out upon the ice they were se- 
cured whenever the weather would allow. Our route 
had long been a subject for discussion among the officers. 
We had been drifting so rapidly toward the west during 
the last few months, that the New Siberian Islands were 
pitched upon as a resting-place on our way to the Lena 
River, which we had selected for our point of destina- 
tion, knowing it to be navigated by steamboats, and its 



CAST UPON THE ICE. 33 

banks thickly inhabited. Hence if we could succeed in 
entering it before winter set in, our difficulties would 
thereafter be few. 

Accordingly, the line of retreat was laid due south, 
and, at first, "true," — De Long and Dunbar performing 
this part of the work with a series of black flags. On 
the evening of June 16th orders were issued changing 
our working hours ; so that we slept during the day 
and labored at night. This was done for various rea- 
sons, chief of which were that by such an arrangement 
we avoided snow-blindness from the sun's glare, and 
could sleep sounder and warmer, while our wet clothes 
were drying on the boats and tent-tops. Again, it is 
decidedly less fatiguing to march and haul in the crisp 
air of night, or when the sun is low, than when it is 
high and strong. The temperature during the day in 
summer-time usually runs up to the melting-point of ice, 
— sometimes as far as forty degrees, — whereas it al- 
ways freezes at night, even in midsummer, when the 
sun has been most powerful ; and I have often observed 
the ice melting on the sunny side of the ship while water 
was freezing on the shady side. 

Before turning in on the morning of the 17th, I con- 
veyed, by De Long's orders, a dog-sled load of provisions 
for our next day's dinner, to what I supposed was the 
farthest flag ; but unfortunately it had fallen down, and 
the depot I made was nearly half a mile short of it. 
Our division of labor was as follows : Captain De Long 
and Mr. Dunbar, as mentioned before, laid out the course 
and selected the roads; Dr. Ambler had charge of the 
sick, and with the aid of a dog-team attended to their 
transportation, as well as that of the medical stores, tent, 
etc., having also the direction of the road-making, bridg- 
ing, and rafting; for throughout the entire march we 
were forced to make our roads, never coming, except 
once, upon a straight floe-piece more than half a mile long 



34 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

where a horse could be driven without imminent danger 
of breaking its legs. Owing to the sickness of Chipp 
and Danenhower, I commanded the working gang. Our 
first day's work was a hard one, and disastrous to the 
sledges. It had been imagined that each party could ad- 
vance its sledge, and then all return in a body for the 
boats ; but upon trial this was found to be utterly im- 
possible, and as De Long thought it best to first haul 
forward the boats, in order to have at the front the 
tents, cooking utensils, and sleeping-bags, which were 
stowed in them, I proceeded to advance the first cutter. 
Probably two thirds of the working force were equipped 
with harness, called " ruy ruddies," or double bands of 
stitched canvas about two inches wide and long enough 
to pass over one shoulder and under the other arm, after 
the manner of a baldric ; and into an eyelet of which is 
attached a lanyard made of one inch and a half tarred 
stuff, furnished with a wooden button at the free end. 
Aided by these, the men seized the drag-rope, and, sur- 
rounding the boat to keep it upright, began hauling it 
through the deep, soggy snow, which at times reached to 
our waists. Whooping and singing, we at last carried 
and dragged it as far as the depot of supplies that I had 
deposited the day before ; but here, very much to our 
surprise, Mr. Dunbar announced that the farthest flag, 
to which we were ordered to advance, was still half a 
mile beyond. Orders are orders, particularly in a fix 
such as we were in, which allowed of no discretion what- 
ever, so forward we went. The first pull when we were 
fresh and vigorous had not been especially distressing, 
but before we had accomplished this second and unex- 
pected march we were all utterly fagged out, two of the 
men being unable to stand ; so they were both left seated 
in the snow, the one drawn up with cramps in his legs, 
and the other with a similar attack in his stomach. 

We found the camp in a violent state of commotion. 



CAST UPON THE ICE. 35 

Immediately after we had left on our march, the floe 
whereon the camp was pitched began to break up and 
run into ridges. When we arrived, De Long, having 
seen the sick moved forward to the depot of supplies, 
was with half a dozen of men strenuously trying to get 
the boats and sleds across the gaping leads in the ice. 
The state of affairs was very dismal indeed ; our begin- 
ning was discouraging, and it really looked as though, 
metaphorically, we would never get to Texas ; many 
even said they did n't care. However, there was need of 
prompt action ; the boats containing the provisions must 
be bounced across the leads at once ; so all hands were 
placed on one boat or sled at a time, and when the pass- 
ing floes came together we hurried it over ; many of us 
with a firm grip on the drag-rope dashing into the slush 
and water "neck and heels," to be hauled out by our 
companions ahead. Thus, amid roars of laughter and 
good-humored banter, we succeeded late in the after- 
noon in again bringing all our baggage together. But 
the sleds had been so badly damaged that it was neces- 
sary to unload and lash them again, besides lightening the 
freight of the smallest ones. This caused another day's 
delay. Meanwhile the first cutter was fully half a mile 
in front of us ; but as she lay in the centre of a large, 
solid floe-piece we were but little alarmed for her wel- 
fare. We had now learned several valuable lessons ; 
namely, the importance of keeping ourselves and goods 
well together, of not permitting too great a distance to 
intervene between our depots, and of not transporting 
any of our baggage across a fissure or lead in the ice 
until we had first brought all of it up to the ferry. 

But imagine our chagrin at failing to be able to haul 
together two of the lightest sleds, and being compelled to 
advance them singly. By this arrangement, in order to 
forward our eight pieces of baggage, we must pass over 
the course thirteen times, or, to make one mile good in 



36 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

a straight line, we must march thirteen. Thus, because 
of the devious nature of our course, the floe being broken 
and hummocky, we would toil hard from seven P. m. to 
six, seven, and often nine A. M., traveling from twenty- 
five to thirty-two miles to be gladdened by a direct pro- 
gress of only two or two and a half miles. 

Profiting from the experience of the first day, we trav- 
eled more easily on the second. In the matter of lash- 
ings for the sleds we found hemp to be much better than 
the raw (walrus) hide, upon which we had relied so 
much. Perhaps in cold weather walrus hide may make 
a better lashing, but I doubt it, and am of the opinion 
that the only advantage attaching to its use is that upon 
a pinch it can be eaten. Indeed, fresh walrus hide 
roasted with the hair on is toothsome at any time, and 
many members of our company feasted on it after con- 
suming their rations of pemmican. We also learned 
that the mere stupid exertion of strength, upon which, 
backed by a little "luck," sailors are too prone to depend 
for the overcoming of their difficulties, was not the proper 
way for us to accomplish a good day's work. Nursing a 
weak sled; bridging at certain times; going round a 
hummock to avoid cutting out a road, — all these expe- 
dients served us in good stead. 

Our daily toil had little of variety in it. When all 
hands had been called, the cook of each tent drew three 
quarters of a pint of alcohol from the doctor, which used 
in our stoves would in about fifteen minutes bring to a 
boiling point thirteen pints of water, melted from the 
moist snow that we found on the high hummocks. The 
issue of provisions was made by the carpenter, each cook 
drawing from " Jack-o'-the-dust " his amount of bread, 
pemmican, sugar, and coffee, and the officer of the tent 
seeing that the food was equally divided among the men. 
We also had a half ounce per man per day of Liebig's 
extract, rations of which were served out to each tent, 



CAST UPON THE ICE. 37 

generally at midnight, for soup, or according as the offi- 
cer saw fit to dispose of the hot water, the limit of which 
was governed by the supply of alcohol issued. To secure 
an impartial distribution of food in tent number four, I 
detailed Adolf Gortz, seaman, to divide the bread and 
pemmican into six equal parts, putting each part in a 
small tin basin or pan. These were then placed in the 
centre of the tent and each man ordered to take a pan, 
which most did with astonishing alacrity, Gortz and I 
appropriating the remaining two. 

We usually took up our march at seven o'clock, sharp, 
continued it until midnight, allowed one hour for dinner 
and rest, and then endeavored to bring all the boats and 
sleds together by six A. M., for supper and sleep ; but in 
this we were not always successful, our labors often ex- 
tending to nine A. M. Then the camp must be made. 
The ground, generally selected by De Long and Dunbar, 
must be level, and the ice beneath the snow free of water 
and cracks. Frequently it was impossible to find such a 
situation ; so a scramble would ensue for the best places 
upon which to pitch the tents, and this brought about so 
much contention that every one was at length forbidden 
to choose any particular spot until all the boats and sleds 
were in and arranged for the night. Then the word was 
passed, and several men from each party shouldered the 
tents, poles and all, and set them up on the best available 
spots in the near vicinity of the baggage. Camp made, 
the kettles were put on, each man, officers excepted, 
serving a week as cook; and, supper over, the sleeping- 
bags and knapsacks were gotten out. But before turning 
in we repaired our clothes and moccasins for the next 
day's march, hanging out such articles as were wet to 
dry. A watch of one hour for each man was set, begin- 
ning with tent one, and continuing on to and through 
number six, the officers and sick being alone excused 
from duty. If any of the sleds required lashing, it was 



38 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

done before turning in, unless the work was trivial, when 
the watch attended to it, — our aim being to permit 
nothing to check our progress except the necessary halts 
for rest and repairs. 

Next to the labor of hauling the boats and sleds, our 
greatest hardship consisted in the almost constant wet- 
ting we received. True, we carried several extra suits 
of clothing for general use, but among so many they 
could be of little advantage, and we soon came to pay no 
attention to our frequent soakings. Our course was laid 
out with two rows of flags, between which it was my 
duty to take the straightest line practicable, and since 
this rendered it impossible for us to keep dry all day, we 
argued "as well early as late," and so pushed boldly 
through the ponds of slush and water which lay knee 
deep in our path, making detours only with the precious 
bread sled. As far as our moccasins were concerned, 
there was not a man in the working force at the end of 
the first three weeks who wore a tight pair on his feet. 
Traveling in summer-time through the water and wet 
snow, the raw hide softens to the consistency of fresh 
tripe, and then — what with the hauls on the drag-rope 
and the slipping of feet on the pointed ice — the mocca- 
sins are soon gone. Many, many times after a day's 
march have I seen no less than six of my men standing 
with their bare feet on the ice, having worn off the very 
soles of their stockings. Nor would it have been possi- 
ble to avoid this, since we could not have carried enough 
u oog-joog" skin, of which moccasin soles are made, to 
have kept alone our boats in repair. 

Many were the devices to which we resorted in order 
to keep our feet from off the ice. At first we made soles 
by sewing patch upon patch of "oog-joog." Then we 
tried the leather of the oar-looms, but it was too slip- 
pery, as was also the sheet rubber, which some of the 
men had thrown away. We used canvas ; sewed our 



CAST UPON THE ICE. 39 

knapsack-straps into little patches for our heels and the 
balls of our feet ; platted rope-yarns, hemp, and manilla 
into a similar protection, with soles of wood ; and platted 
whole mats the shape of our feet. A large number 
marched with their toes protruding through their mocca- 
sins ; some with the " uppers " full of holes, out of which 
the water and slush spurted at every step. Yet no one 
murmured so long as his feet were clear of the ice, and I 
have here to say that no ship's company ever endured 
such severe toil with such little complaint. Another 
crew, perhaps, may be found to do as well ; but better — 
never ! 



CHAPTER IV. 
RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 

Game. — Retrogression. — Beans. — Progress at last. — Bennett Isl- 
and. — In the Boats. — Our Dogs. — Threading the Leads. 

On the first Sunday of each month, as had been our 
custom since leaving San Francisco, the Act for the Bet- 
ter Government of the Navy was read, with prayers ; and 
saving this mild diversion, our daily routine continued 
without variation, — an occasional accident to the sleds, or 
an unusual amount of bridging or ferrying, alone delay- 
ing our forced march. When we had been on the retreat 
several weeks, Captain De Long secured a good obser- 
vation of the sun, and learned therefrom, very much to 
his astonishment and chagrin, that we had drifted about 
twenty -four miles into the northwest. There was no 
doubt about it ; his conclusions were confirmed by a 
" Sumner," and our situation now seemed absolutely 
hopeless. After daily marching from twenty -five to 
thirty miles for two weeks, to find that we had retroceded 
twenty-four miles ! 

In order to cross the streams of running ice at right 
angles, De Long now changed the course from south, 
true, to south southwest. We all knew that we must 
eventually come upon open water by marching due south, 
however much we drifted to the north and west. It was 
merely a question of time ; yet we had but sixty days' 
provisions, a journey of five hundred miles before us, 
and we might not be able to take our boats to water, 
and then only to be frozen in. 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 41 

Wrapped in my sleeping-bag, it was amusing to lie 
and hear the men prate of their past joys at the table. 
After enumerating every toothsome thing they had ever 
eaten, all would finally agree that the best dinners on 
board the Jeannette were those of Wednesday, — the 
"bean day," when "duff," the sailor's delight, was also 
served. And a wail would go up over the remembrance 
that, having these two delicacies in one day, it was im- 
possible to do justice to both, so either duff or beans 
must be neglected. Then would follow confessions of 
what had been done with the surplus : the generous 
fellow telling how he had given what duff he could n't 
eat to the Chinese cook ; the funny fellow, how he had 
presented his to Iniguin, just to see him swallow mo- 
lasses, or had eaten it all and cried for more ; and the 
mean fellow acknowledging that he would not even 
throw his to the dogs, but had kept both beans and duff, 
and consumed them cold. 

De Long craved a few fried oysters, while Ambler and 
myself were wont, in fancy, to chuckle over a whole can- 
vas-back duck, or turkey, or young wild goose ; however, 
— "A whole one, you know, old fellow." Not, perhaps, 
that either of us would eat all of it, but then the luxury 
of carving and feasting on just such parts as we chose, 
each to his own taste and from his own goose — ah ! — 

" Ha, ha ! " — from Chipp, — " you dainty little ones. 
A broiled partridge on toast, eh ? A ten-cent plate of 
hash is what you '11 get instead — maybe hog's jowl and 
greens." This or such another sally generally awakened 
us from our day-dreaming, the bright fancies of which, 
alas ! so few of us lived to realize. 

Perhaps a week subsequent to the discovery that we 
had been drifting into the northwest, Captain De Long 
learned, from another observation, that we had at last 
made good about twenty-one miles. The men had be- 
come despondent and suspicious, rightly guessing the 



42 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

reason why the results of the first observation had been 
kept secret. So now, when all but one piece of baggage 
had been advanced, I announced the good news in a loud 
voice : " Boys, the captain says we have made twenty- 
one miles good during the past week, and that we now 
have a current in our favor." 

A cheer arose from one end of the line to the other, 
and the last sled was rushed to the front with renewed 
vigor. 

And now a bright vision arose before our eyes, cheer- 
ing all. We had been marching toward the New Sibe- 
rian Islands, and for several days a dark cloud hanging in 
the south-southwestern sky had been anxiously watched. 
Finally, at noon of the 11th or 12th of July, the sun 
shone clearly in the southward, and the land stood boldly 
revealed ; its blue mountain peaks rising grandly aloft, 
the ice and water showing plainly below, while a white, 
dazzling cloud floated dreamily above — in all the most 
perfect scene of isolated or insular land ever viewed at 
a distance in the Arctic Ocean. It inspired us with 
new hope and life, and we toiled forward as to a second 
Land of Promise. Approaching nearer, the ice became 
looser, the leads more frequent, and game more plenti- 
ful. On two or three occasions we had seal for supper ; 
and at length, just before effecting a landing, Gortz shot 
and killed a bear, whose carcass, as we were now de- 
tained on the ice for a day or two in the fog and sleet, 
very miserable in our wet tents, wet clothes, and on 
our soft, wet snow beds, was a most welcome addition 
to our meagre diet. With the empty pemmican cans for 
stoves, we fried his steaks, broiled his chops, roasted his 
paws, and made stews of his flank pieces, using his blub- 
ber for fuel. 

Meanwhile the ice surged back and forth with the ebb 
and flow of the tide, tending steadily to the eastward. 
Should we drift past the island it would be utterly im- 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 43 

possible to recover our lost ground; so on the morning 
of the second day we prepared to make a dash for the 
land, on which, though not in sight, we could hear the 
constant grinding of the ice and the calling of the sea- 
birds among the cliffs. Suddenly, as we approached, the 
sun, as though by an extraordinary effort, rent the cloud 
veil in twain, and lo ! before us, so close that it seemed 
we might step on shore, uprose and towered to a height 
of 3,000 feet the almost perpendicular masses of black 
basaltic rock, stained here and there with patches of red 
lichens, and begrimed with the decayed vegetable mat- 
ter of unknown ages, the bold projections fissured and 
seamed, and the giant rocks split and powdered by the 
hand of time. The sight was glorious. Involuntary ex- 
clamations escaped from all. It infused new life and 
vigor into us ; and each man straightway became a Her- 
cules. Now or never, thought we, and so seized the 
boats and sleds, rushing them upon a tongue of the ice- 
foot which our main floe grazed in passing. At last ! 
The ice-foot rested on the beach, and now many of our 
company set foot on terra firma the first time in two 
years. A sorry looking set we were, too, gathering to- 
gether our weather-beaten traps ; sunburned, lean, rag- 
ged, and hungry. We had appeared quite bad enough 
while on the ice ; but now, after our late terrific toils, 
camping under these great mountains, the tents looked 
not unlike ant-hills ; while we, a group of vagabond in- 
sects, tugged away at a heap of rags, bags, and old bat- 
tered boats as spoils. Supper over, we formed a proces- 
sion, and with colors flying marched to the island, which 
Captain De Long took possession of in the name of God 
and the United States, naming it Bennett Island ; and 
Lieutenant Chipp was directed to give the crew as much 
liberty as was possible on American soil. Very little, 
indeed, this was, and Jack growled at the " dry christen- 
ing ; " and even though he was just come on shore, with 
two years' pay, how could he spend it ? 



44 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Camped under the frowning cliffs of the island, on a 
little strip of ice that swayed uneasily with the action of 
the tide, we watched the majestic procession of floe-pieces 
rolling and grinding by. On came the endless column, 
crowding and crushing, with rare and beautiful gaps be- 
tween, revealing the deep blue of the sea, and we who 
had lived amid the wonders of the ice-world for two long 
years now stood with mouths agape and marveled as the 
grand parade of stately bergs sailed past ; and when night 
had closed in around us we at last lay wearily down to 
rest. 

There was a narrow channel of water about twenty 
yards wide between our ice-foot and the island, which we 
had crossed by means of certain stepping stones, by wad- 
ing, and by floating ourselves over on an ice-cake or raft; 
and we scarcely had time to crawl into our sleeping-bags 
when the ground on which the ice-foot rested rocked and 
trembled with a noise like the roar of distant thunder, 
or the bursting of some huge berg. The next instant 
we were out in full view of a sight that it is permitted 
but few mortals to witness and live. A land-slide had 
started down the rocky declivity, and was now making 
its awful way toward us with irresistible speed. The 
spectacle was grand and terrific, but had the ice-foot ex- 
tended to the shore without the intervention of the chan- 
nel, we would either have been buried by the rushing 
mass or swept into the sea. 

Our stay at Bennett Island was determined by the 
time required to repair the boats, allowing us a brief 
respite from our distressing labors. Two parties made 
extended explorations around the coast : the one under 
Lieutenant Chipp, in the second cutter, sailing along the 
southern face; while Mr. Dunbar with Alexia and the 
dog-teams sledded around the northern face, from the 
point called Cape Emma. Neither party discovered any- 
thing of importance, and, having each built and left a 




TAKING POSSESSION OF BENNETT ISLAND. 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 45 

record in a cairn, returned to camp laden with firewood, 
which they had found in considerable quantities on cer- 
tain portions of the beach. With this we cooked savory- 
stews of loon, gorney, gull, murre, and other sea-fowl, 
which had been killed in such numbers for a day or two 
as to do away for the time being with our issue of pem- 
mican. 

The men brought into camp all the peculiar or inter- 
esting articles that they found in their rambles. Among 
these were a bleached and decayed reindeer horn, chanced 
upon on the highlands, and a part of a head and horn re- 
sembling that of the musk-ox, but so very much time- 
worn that none of us could classify it otherwise than 
as a fossil, along with the shells which were seen in abun- 
dance. A seam of bituminous coal was discovered on 
the face of the cliff about one hundred and fifty feet 
above the level of the sea. It varied in thickness from 
six to twenty-four inches, and ran along in a horizontal 
plane for a distance of a mile or more. Samples of it 
were brought into camp and a fire started. It was soft 
and friable from long exposure, giving out consider- 
able smoke, but it burned to a white ash, leaving little 
"clinker" or stone, and the refuse was nearly one half 
in weight of the original coal. 

Our explorations and observations finished, it now be- 
came necessary to change the order of things, since we 
were about to take to our boats. These were duly re- 
paired, and the loads lightened by casting away a lot of 
worthless clothing and other small gear. Then it was 
impossible to carry all our dogs with us, even if we could 
longer feed them, for each one ate nearly a pound of 
pemmican per day. So we retained the best seven as a 
light team for sledding, and the rest were taken behind 
a hummock, shot, and their bodies thrown into the sea. 

The six tents and their occupants were doubled up in 
the three boats as follows : First cutter, Captain De Long 



46 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

with part of the crews of tents four and five ; Second 
cutter, Lieutenant Chipp with the crews of tent two and 
part of number five ; Whale-boat, myself with the re- 
mainder of the crews of tents three, four, and five. There 
was open water for a mile or so between the island and 
the nearest floe, and into this we at last pushed off in 
our deeply laden boats, — it requiring two trips to trans- 
port all the provisions, sleds, camp equipage, dogs, and 
men. 

We stepped our masts to sail or help the oars as much 
as possible, and placed the sleds across the boats forward 
or abaft the masts, at times towing them and the spare 
oars. When a floe was to be crossed the boats were run 
in alongside of the ice, eased of their freight, hauled over 
on the sleds, launched, reladen, and we reembarked and 
were off again as merrily as though on a summer sea. 
In this way our first day's progress was very encourag- 
ing, and except some little but disagreeable sledding 
we found, as we had anticipated, our new manner of pro- 
gression a delightful improvement over the old one, as 
well in the matter of labor expended as in distance ac- 
complished. 

Before leaving the island (August 6th), winter had 
really set in. When we landed, the water was rushing 
in torrents from the glacier, ice-cap, and snowy peaks, 
and its noise could be heard in the silence of the night 
for miles. But during our short sojourn there, how 
marked the changes. At first, we could fill our tea-kettles 
at any of a hundred purling streams which ran down the 
mountain side ; then it rained ; but, before we left, the 
streams were dried up, young ice was making, and the 
bright red or green spots which had looked so cheerful 
to our eyes were fast being clad in their winter garb. 
A day or two of travel, and our beautiful island, only 
seen at intervals between the snow- squalls, was, like 
everything else around us, shrouded in white. And the 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 47 

last we saw of it was a mere shadowy contour, curved 
like a whale's back, and lifted into the heavens as though 
to mingle its snowy purity with the silver glory of the 
clouds. 

Before the young ice began to make and so unite the 
hummocks and bits together, it was an easy matter to 
put a floe of an acre or more in motion, but now this 
was fit work for a Titan ; and, if the freezing and coher- 
ing process went on much longer, it looked very much 
as though we should have to halt and wait until the ice 
became strong enough to bear us. But fortunately the 
winds kept the ice in constant motion, and so preserved 
comparatively open water. Sitting in our cramped quar- 
ters in the boats we now became very tired, cold, and 
wet, with little or no covering for our hands and feet, 
having rejected, in view of our long journey across the 
ice, all but absolutely necessary clothing, which was now 
worn into rags ; and to add to the discomfort of those of 
us in the first cutter and whale-boat, which were leaking 
badly, we were compelled to bail continually. The sec- 
ond cutter was tight, because being light and short she 
had rested easily on her sled without rocking. 

So long as the wind which put the ice in motion made 
open water for us, our progress to the south was rapid, 
but not so when it crowded the pack together and made 
it appear as though we would never get out of the wil- 
derness. At length, after a good day's run with a fresh- 
ening breeze, we were finally forced by the gale, and the 
crowding of the ice, and the approaching darkness, to 
haul out on a floe-piece. 

Pitching our tents near the edge, we ate supper and 
crawled, wretchedly wet and cold, into our sleeping-bags ; 
but about midnight we were all summoned to shift the 
boats and tents, as our floe was breaking up ; and it was 
no less amusing than painful to see each other in various 
states of deshabille, — some barefooted, many barelegged, 



48 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

darting about in a howling snow-storm, securing our 
traps and carrying them to places of safety. We were 
up with dawn, and breaking our fast were at it again ; 
and after a fairly good day's work brought up against an 
old rotten pack, full of holes and water spaces, around 
or across which it seemed impossible for us to make our 
way ; so we hauled out on it, the snow starting to fall 
again, and the water to freeze. Pitching our tents we 
waited that day while the storm blew around us. 

Having vainly wished and watched for a shift of the 
ice, we set out on the second morning across the skeleton 
pack, which was joined together by young ice half an 
inch or so in thickness. There was no picking a road ; 
so we made a straight line for the nearest open water, 
across pools, ponds, holes, fissures, and hummocks, sink- 
ing to all depths from our knees to our necks. 

Taking every lead that opened to the southward, or 
had most southing in it, we worked our serpentine way 
in the direction of the New Siberian Islands, the sea ex- 
panding, or, rather, the leads becoming larger and more 
frequent as we progressed. The next morning, after 
breakfast, the order was issued to heap snow in all the 
boats for water purposes, — De Long desiring that we 
should make our tea on board, and not haul out for din- 
ner as had been our custom. So away we sailed with a 
fine following breeze and plenty of open water, — too 
much, indeed, at times, for our heavily laden boats. When 
word was passed to make tea and serve dinner, De Long 
was booming along in the lead, the whale-boat next, and 
Chipp in our wake. The ice was all in motion, and, 
where the lanes widened into great bays, covered with 
the first white caps we had seen for many months, our 
boats danced, capered, and scampered like circus horses. 
We were now dodging in and out the floe openings as 
best we might, acting quickly with tiller and sail to avoid 
coming in contact with the sharp edges of the ice. Now 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 49 

and then, when the boats were in line and not more than 
a hundred yards apart, the first cutter would shoot through 
a passage, followed by the whale-boat ; but, before the 
second cutter could come up, the ice would perhaps shift 
and shut her out. 

Finally, when we opened out into a bay where the 
slowly increasing breeze from the north was raising con- 
siderable sea, our boats, weighted deeply and their sail- 
ing as well as safety rendered almost impossible by the 
heavy oak sleds, began shipping water ; and it became 
apparent to all that if the sea continued we must of a 
necessity lighten our boats. The ice, too, was crowding 
in upon us again, and we were working to the south and 
west in a narrow lane of water; all three boats being 
hauled on the wind to try and weather a point of ice, at 
the same time keeping clear of the edge of the pack 
under our lee, over which the sea was breaking fearfully. 

When De Long and I hauled out, Chipp had dropped 
behind again, although all three boats were carrying every 
inch of sail they could stagger under ; and when he event- 
ually rounded to, Chipp, for the first time, complained 
about his boat. Until then she had been the favorite, 
and even yet, indeed, was considered sound and efficient, 
only she was overloaded by the heavy sled, which article 
of freight, indeed, came nigh to burying every boat. 

In the face of the day's experience it was quite evi- 
dent that if such weather continued, we could not carry 
the sleds with us across the open water between the isl- 
ands and the coast of Siberia. So De Long very wisely 
directed us to cut them up into fire-wood, and when we 
started, as we expected to in the morning, to stow the 
pieces in the boats. But when day broke we found our- 
selves shut solidly in with not a speck of water anywhere 
visible, the whole of the northern pack having been 
driven down by the gale full upon the islands, which were 
now in plain sight. Although it was cold enough, the 



50 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

constant motion of the ice prevented the floes from ce- 
menting ; so we could do naught but await a favorable 
change in the aspect of affairs, and this we proceeded to 
do, having accustomed ourselves to make the best of 
every misfortune. Nevertheless, we had then no idea 
that we would be kept prisoners for ten days ; albeit, if 
we had, there was nothing we could have done to liber- 
ate ourselves. 

In truth, our situation now looked worse than ever ; 
the provisions were rapidly disappearing ; winter advanc- 
ing ; and the islands ahead of us were uninhabited ; so 
De Long sent for and consulted with Chipp and myself. 
Talking the matter over, we agreed upon the impossi- 
bility of transporting the boats to land, at least with 
their bottoms in. We then discussed the course we 
should pursue in the event of our drifting through the 
channel between the islands of New Siberia and Thad- 
eouiski ; unanimously deciding that we proceed from 
point to point along the south side of the islands until 
we reached the southwest point of the island Kotolnoi ; 
thence to Stolboi, to Wasilli, to Simonoski, and finally 
to Cape Barkin, at the Lena Delta, where we felt as- 
sured we would find the native huts as marked upon our 
charts. 

Our existence had now become a mere question of pro- 
visions. Had there been a depot of eight or ten thou- 
sand pounds of pemmican on the New Siberian Islands 
we could have wintered there with comfort ; and when 
I read all the plans for our succor suggested, while we 
were absent, by people who assumed to know that we 
were coming out by the way we did, I cannot help won- 
dering why it was that some one did not propose such a 
depot with a guard to watch it. Yet, as in other things, 
our aftersight informed us of much that our foresight 
had overlooked. 

About noon of our tenth day in camp the ice seemed 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 51 

looser than usual, and we found ourselves closer to land. 
So we hauled the boats a short distance, and launched 
them in a swirling mass not unlike the rapids to some 
great cataract. Moving rapidly in all directions, now 
closing and now opening, the ice, at times, would form a 
solid barrier in front of us ; and, while we considered 
whether to journey east or west, the wall would sud- 
denly part and open a passage-way, shutting perhaps as 
soon as we had fairly entered. And in this bewildering 
manner we continued on our course until night closed 
in around us, when we were obliged to haul out again 
and camp, after a hard, though good, day's work. Next 
morning we were up bright and early. Launching our 
boats, we caught a brief view of the land, when the sun 
shone through the fog bank, and concluded that we were 
now well down between the islands of New Siberia and 
Thadeouiski. The ice was running through this opening 
to the southward like water in a mill-race, and the fog 
gathered densely about us ; but on we ran in mid-chan- 
nel, now and then catching glimpses of the eastern head- 
lands of Thadeouiski. Ere night we had come out at the 
southward of the islands, and before us, as far as the eye 
could reach, rolled the blue free sea, although the ice- 
blink showed away to the south. Following the coast 
to the westward, we at length, after great difficulty, ef- 
fected a landing, and for the first time in two years and 
a half enjoyed a good sleep on terra firma, realizing Dr. 
Ambler's oft-repeated wish that he might once again 
" renew the electrical conditions between his body and 
the earth," or, as Dunbar briefly expressed it, might 
" sand his hoofs ; " and this we all did upon the mossy 
tundra on the high ground of Thadeouiski. 

During the evening we all, officers and crew, scattered 
over the island in quest of game or any objects of inter- 
est relative to our position as a shipwrecked party. We 
found several decayed and tumble-down huts of the ivory 



52 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

hunters, and one of the sailors said he saw moccasin 
marks in the muddy beach of a river, but this was before 
he learned to what an extent the imprint of a reindeer 
hoof in the mire will spread when washed by a receding 
river. A few black ducks, caught late in the season with 
broods to raise, still remained paddling shyly about in the 
open water. Snow was settling on the hills, and young 
ice was making along the shore and in the ditches. The 
reindeer had taken to the valleys among the distant hills, 
there to remain until the return of spring-time and sun- 
shine, for in a very few days the silence of an Arctic 
winter would rest upon the island. 

Keeping a bright lookout we pushed along the coast as 
rapidly as the shoal water would permit, now and then 
grounding. Long windrows of driftwood were thrown 
up on the beach and crowded far back from the water- 
mark by the ice. At the time of our sojourn along the 
coast the interior of the island looked high and moun- 
tainous. Hills and valleys were covered with snow and 
ice, and the rivers had all dried up, the sun having ceased 
to give sufficient heat, even at midday, to melt the snow. 
The low, irregular coast-line resembled a series of huge, 
peaked or cone-shaped furnaces, which, however, upon 
closer inspection looked not unlike villages of conoidal 
tents or huts ; but the earthy portion of these islands, we 
soon learned from examination, is rapidly being washed 
away into the sea. In early summer the turbulent 
streams coursing down into the valleys cut great ravines 
in the mountain sides, and, later on, the snow melting 
along the ridges of the hills eats out transverse and 
smaller ravines ; and so through ages the general erosion 
has proceeded until nearly all the soil has been washed 
into the Arctic Ocean. And now that there is not suf- 
ficient surface on the peaks of the cones for the snow to 
lodge and run off in little rivulets, the erosion goes on 
through the slower process of freezing and melting, thus 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 53 

expanding and contracting the masses ; and evidences of 
the gradual leveling are plainly to be seen in the rounded 
earth mounds of all sizes at the base of the cones. 

Although greatly retarded by the shoals, we made a 
good two days' run in our boats past the islands, hoping 
the third day to be able to camp on the eastern end of 
Kotolnoi. But the wind headed us off and a shoal stood 
in our way. We had tried hard all day to round the 
shoal, which we found making twenty or twenty-five miles 
to the southward of its charted position ; the wind was 
increasing, rendering the navigation of the boats a cold 
and wet task ; darkness was approaching, and so to avoid 
a night in the boats we ran in under the shoal. Con- 
siderable sea was now rolling in, and it would be decid- 
edly unsafe to attempt the hauling of the boats ashore, 
since it would be impossible to launch them through the 
surf should it blow a gale for any length of time. After 
several ineffectual efforts to land without running back 
to the point whence we had started in the morning, it 
finally became apparent that we must pass the night in 
our boats. And a memorable night it was. 

The southerly wind drove the ice in upon us, and at 
the same time forced us toward the shoal, over which the 
sea was breaking with great fury. We were without an- 
chors, and so with reefed sails we did our utmost to obey 
the order to keep together. The night was dark as pitch, 
and our only guides were the roar of the surf under our 
lee, and the glare of the ice on the other side when the 
sea surged over it. About midnight we had driven peril- 
ously far in towards the beach, and the order was passed 
to anchor the boats as best we could ; but to no purpose, 
— the sea was too strong, and we would have been forced 
into the breakers and doubtless drowned, had we not 
succeeded in getting under way in time, and standing back 
to the northeast on our track of the day before. 

Considering the violence of the wind and sea during 



54 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the night, our anxiety was great when we found the 
second cutter nowhere visible. Running alongside of a 
grounded hummocky " bit," we pitched our tents and 
stretched our legs, and while we yet breakfasted the 
second cutter hove in sight. Chipp reported a bad night 
of it, and his crew looked much more worn and battered 
than the rest ; but we had no time to spare in sympathy, 
for the tide began to rise, and the waves breaking over 
our hummocks soon washed us out; so tumbling our 
effects into the boats, we made off again before a moder- 
ately increasing breeze and rounded the sand-spit off the 
east end of Kotolnoi. As the wind blew stronger, the 
sea ran high, and in a little while it was all we could do 
to stagger along under single-reefed sails, keeping ahead 
of the waves, which washed over us constantly. It was 
wonderful how we avoided cutting or staving our boat to 
pieces on the sharp -edged bits ; but fortunately while 
we thus ran briskly the ice was much broken, and there 
were no floe-pieces calling upon us for halts and hauls. 
Within several hours the second cutter was again out of 
sight, and De Long concluded to continue running until 
we could find a large solid floe-piece, and there await 
Chipp, who must needs take care of himself. We had 
scarcely secured our boats in a shallow cove washed out 
in the ice, where they lay like ships in a dock, when the 
water suddenly disappeared as if by magic, and we found 
ourselves in the midst of a wild mass of broken ice, ap- 
parently as hopeless of navigation as the pack which 
balked us and brought about our unfortunate " Ten day 
Camp." 

Pitching our tents as night came on, we supped and 
crawled into our sleeping-bags, well worn out and most 
thankful for rest. Next morning the gale yet blew with 
vigor, showering snow. Still no sign of Chipp. We 
hoisted a black flag at the mast-head of the first cutter, 
and hoped it might bring him to us. Toward evening, 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 55 

while Iniguin was watching on a high hummock, the sec- 
ond cutter was at last seen skimming briskly along in the 
open water. She sighted our signal, and drew up within 
a mile of us, and soon we observed Chipp and Kiihne 
making their way across the ice in our direction. It is 
needless to say how rejoiced we were to see them ; but 
after supper they visited around in the four tents and re- 
counted to us their experiences. 

The morning smiled on us, and the sea tried to show its 
blue face through the dense fog that had closed in and 
shut the land from our sight. Soon we were all well 
under way, and Chipp, scudding along the canal for a 
mile or two, finally came to a halt, the ice ahead having 
packed into an impenetrable mass. As we ran on we had 
observed another canal inside of the one we were navi- 
gating, and likewise a passage connecting the two; so 
now we turned back to it with De Long in the lead, and 
sailed merrily along until dusk, when we again found our- 
selves in a eul de sac, the land showing fair and bright 
to the northward of us, and the mountains raising their 
snowy peaks far inland. We all three rounded the point 
together and hauled out on the inside of a long sand-spit 
making eastward from Kotolnoi toward Thadeouiski. 

We were now camped on the eastern end of Kotolnoi. 
Driftwood was abundant, so we gathered great heaps of 
it and built a rousing fire, before which we warmed our 
fronts, froze our backs, and burned or shriveled up con- 
siderable of our saturated garments, in our anxious en- 
deavors to profit by the first really good camp-fire we 
had enjoyed since leaving the United States. A night 
of grateful release from our prolonged fatigue, and the 
next day opened gloriously. With a view to further 
rest and the stretching of our cramped limbs, but more 
especially to a good reindeer stew, we remained on the 
island ; those who chose going on the hunt, with their 
bodies full of vigor and pockets full of cartridges. To- 



56 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

ward evening they straggled back; some had gone in- 
credible distances, all had found plenty of tracks, but 
none had seen a live deer. 

Next morning we were out bright and early, launching 
the boats in high glee at the expectation of making a 
good day's journey along the inshore water. Rounding 
the point of the sand-spit, we stood to the westward, 
many of the men walking on the beach for exercise. 
This beach was strewn with various kinds of driftwood. 
Some of the lumber showed marks of the friendly axe, 
and how eloquently such silent signs of civilization spoke 
to our hearts, recalling distant scenes and friends. Din- 
ner over, we were forced to make a portage of about half 
a mile, hauling the boats on their keel runners along a 
little ridge of snow above the high water-mark. They 
were soon launched again, and away we gayly went, a 
number of the men continuing to run along the beach 
for exercise, keeping pace with the boats, which picked 
them up when their progress was checked by the creeks 
making out from the land. Advancing thus, we at 
length, toward night, hauled out and camped on the high 
ground a short distance back from the beach. During 
the afternoon we had left the low sand and mud shore, 
and had arrived at a long line of perpendicular cliffs of 
shale and slate ; from which we inferred that we were 
now on the southwestern coast of Kotolnoi Island, whence 
we might start at once across the open ocean for the 
Lena Delta, via the island of Stolboi. Accordingly we 
made a close stow of our goods, rilling all the spare ves- 
sels with snow for a water supply, and on the morning 
of September 7th set sail before a fresh breeze from the 
east northeast. Standing to the southward, we shortly 
came up with a large floe alive with small running hum- 
mocks and stream ice. It was blowing stiffly, the sea 
was lumpy, and our boats careering at a lively rate. 
Pumping and bailing to keep afloat, we suddenly came 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 57 

unawares upon the weather side of a great floe-piece, 
over which the sea was breaking so terribly that for us 
to come in contact with it meant certain destruction. It 
was floating from four to six feet above water, its sides 
either perpendicular or undershot by the action of the 
waves, which dashed madly over it, the surf flying in 
the air to a height of twenty feet; and, where the sea 
had honeycombed it and eaten holes upward through its 
thickness, a thousand waterspouts cast forth spray like a 
school of whales. Round about, down sail, and away we 
pulled for our lives. De Long being fifty or a hundred 
yards in advance of me, and so much nearer danger, 
hailed me to take him in tow, which I did, and together 
we barely managed to hold our precarious position. The 
'second cutter was away behind again, but upon coming 
up seized the whale-boat's painter ; and so we struggled 
in line, and at last succeeded in clearing the weather 
edge of the floe. It was a long pull and a hard pull. 
The sea roared and thundered against the cold bleak 
mass of ice, flying away from it like snow-flakes and 
freezing as it flew ; the sailors, blinded by the wind and 
spray, pulled manfully at the oars, their bare hands 
frozen and bleeding; and the boats tossed capriciously 
about with the wild waves and the unequal strain of the 
tow-line. Drenched to the skin by the cruel icy seas 
which poured in and nigh filled the boats, the over-taxed 
men, as they faced the dreadful, death-dealing sea and 
murderous ice-edge, found new life and strength and per- 
formed wonders. 

This, indeed, proved a day of trial and tribulation to 
us ; the restless condition of the ice requiring nice nav- 
igation, and the low state of our provisions calling for 
prompt movement and the avoidance of disastrous delays. 

While we were under the influence of the land the 
wind had been even and steady from the south and east, 
but as night closed in it became fitful, blowing in heavy 



58 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

squalls, and the sea ran high. Our boats were well 
bunched together, and although it was now pitch dark 
we could yet for a while discern each other looming up 
out of the black water like spectres and plunging over 
the crests of waves. Presently the second cutter faded 
away, but as mine was the fastest boat of the three I 
experienced no difficulty in following De Long. Indeed. 
in my anxiety to obey the order, " Keep within hail," I 
at times barely escaped running the first cutter down. 
Now that we were sailing night and day it became neces- 
sary to relieve the helmsman. Not that any one could 
sleep ; but then a rest was needful, from the increasing 
vigilance required in guiding the boat clear of the multi- 
form dangers that arose constantly before us. Yet the 
least error of the helmsman, when his ear caught the roar 
of the sea breaking over the edge of a floe or ragged 
pack, and the waves which came tumbling after, mountain 
high, would certainly engulf us. Saving a few minutes 
when I was otherwise engaged, the main sheet was never 
controlled by any one but myself ; and cold work it was, 
too, with a pair of mittens on my hands made of cotton 
sheeting which I had originally used as coverings for my 
fur mittens. 

Toward midnight we approached the weather edge of 
the pack, the roar of the surf reaching our ears long 
before we could see the ice. I involuntarily hauled the 
whale-boat closer on the wind, and by so doing lost sight 
of the first cutter, but the terrible noise and confusion of 
the sea warned me beyond doubt of the death that lay 
under our lee. Presently out of the darkness there ap- 
peared the horrid white wall of ice and foam. Not a 
second too soon. "Ready about, and out with the two 
lee oars if she misses stays." This, of course, from the 
heavy sea, she did ; and quick as thought my orders were 
obeyed. As we turned slowly round a wave swept 
across our starboard quarter filling the boat to the seats. 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 5J) 

Ye gods! what a cold bath! And now we were in the 
midst of small streaming ice, broken and triturated into 
posh by the sea and grinding floes, and this was hurled 
back upon us by the reflex water and eddying current in 
the rear of the pack, which was rapidly moving before 
the wind. With bailers, buckets, and pumps doing their 
utmost, the two lee oars brought us around in good time, 
and we filled away on the other tack, the waves still 
leaping playfully in as though to keep us busy and spice 
our misery with the zest of danger. Finally we ran into 
a field of streaming ice, which, calming the fury of the 
sea, afforded us some shelter. 

When day broke neither of our companion boats was 
in sight. The wind had moderated greatly, and we were 
now in quiet water among the loose pack, — perhaps the 
most miserable looking collection of mortals that ever 
crowded shivering together in a heap. We looked, in- 
deed, so utterly forlorn and wretched that just to revive 
and thaw, as it were, my drowned and frozen wits, I 
burst forth into frenzied song. Of a truth, as we sat 
shaking there, our situation was nigh desperate ; we were 
down to an allowance of a pint of water to each man per 
day, now that De Long was separated from us ; but upon 
the suggestion of some one in the boat I set up the fire- 
pot and made hot tea. We were thus breakfasting when 
the first cutter hove in view. I at once joined company, 
and shortly after the second cutter made her appearance, 
and we were again together. The sea soon calmed, les 
miserables thawed out, the morning became as pleasant 
as the memorable May mornings at home, and we again 
were bright and alive with hope. 

Soon the sun shone brightly and warmed us into jol- 
lity, and when we halted for dinner De Long secured a 
sight which placed our position to the westward of Stol- 
boi Island/ now plainly visible. 

At dusk, having accomplished a good day's journey, 



60 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

and been well heated by the sun, we pulled out on a floe- 
piece, cleaned the boats, wrung our clothing, and after 
the evening meal, crept, still soaked, into our sleeping- 
bags under cover of the tents, where we slept the sleep 
of the just. The next morning we were up and out, 
enjoying the early sunshine of a beautiful day. The 
ice in our vicinity was not heavy now, being apparently 
of but one year's growth, and unbroken by collision — 
ice that seemed to have floated about in a dead sea de- 
void of currents or islands, which to the northward break 
and mass it into hummock and floe-berg. We toiled 
strenuously all day at oar, tow-rope, and sail, until ten 
p. M., when the water began shoaling rapidly and we 
heard the roar of the surf; so mooring our boats to a 
grounded floe-piece, we ate our supper by candle-light in 
the tents, and again, well satisfied with our day's journey, 
lay down to rest. 

When morning dawned it revealed to us the mud cliffs 
of Simonoski, not more than five hundred yards distant. 

Landing for dinner we found the tracks of deer, and 
those of a bear or a wolf. The water procured here, 
although fresh, was discolored and unpleasant to the 
taste, savoring of the bog from which it was taken, and 
being filled with animalculas and red grubs. We had 
proceeded a couple of miles when a fine deer, attended 
by her fawn, was observed running along the edge of 
the cliff as if in alarm. Our hunters soon killed and 
dragged the carcass of the doe to the edge of the cliff 
and dropped it upon the beach. It dressed about one 
hundred and twenty pounds, and we had each a clear 
pound of sweet venison, washed down by a quart of tea, 
— a royal gorge, indeed. And when, after supper, the 
hunters having fruitlessly scoured the island to its end 
for a sign of the fawn, we at last turned in, the wet 
sleeping-bags troubled us but little, for now", the first 
time in many months, we enjoyed the delightful and al- 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 61 

most forgotten sensation of being replete and distended 
with palatable food, a delicious frame of body and mind 
enhanced by the pleasing prospect of a jolly good soup 
on the morrow. 

That day (Sunday) we passed upon the island, some 
of the men employing their time in another unsuccessful 
hunt for the fawn, while I set busily to work altering 
the cover of the whale-boat ; and a record was deposited 
on a high point of land. 

Since Saturday, the 10th of September, the weather 
had been dark and gloomy, with occasional showers of 
rain and some snow. We were all wet and miserably 
cold, the moss was soaked, and our camp-fires, by reason 
of the scarcity of wood, afforded us little comfort beyond 
cooking our food. The wind had been almost constantly 
blowing in fitful gusts, approximating to a gale during 
Sunday night, and on Monday morning it was yet fresh, 
while the sea was covered with white caps. Still, though 
the weather looked ominous, there was no certain indica- 
tion of a coming gale, and a delay, further than was neces- 
sary for the rest and refreshment that we had already 
obtained, would be extremely dangerous, since a day's loss, 
now, might count a week in the near future. 

About eight o'clock in the morning we sailed away, 
and with a good breeze under the lee of the island, ran 
briskly to the southward in the direction of Wasilli. 
Passing the channel between the two islands, our boats 
careened and we then felt the full force of the wind. 
Wasilli was soon in the distance, and just before noon 
we hauled in alongside of the floe for our meal of tea and 
pemmican, — and it was the last dinner we ever ate to- 
gether. We had now arrived at the edge of the ice, with 
Cape Barkin, our point of destination, only ninety miles 
or less distant. Dinner over, we filled all our vessels 
with snow for drinking water ; everyone jolly in the hope 
that with our present breeze, should it not grow too 



62 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

heavy, we might be able to reach Cape Barkin and the 
land after one night at sea. Chipp and I conferred to- 
gether a long time, pacing up and down the floe. My 
boat being the fastest of the three, I anticipated no 
trouble ; and Chipp, though his boat was lighter than 
before, seemed to think that he could keep abreast if the 
first cutter did not carry full sail. 

De Long verbally directed both of us to keep, if possi- 
ble, within hail, and reiterated his orders in case of sepa- 
ration. 

" Make the best of your way," said he, " to Cape 
Barkin, which is eighty or ninety miles off, southwest 
true. Don't wait for me, but get a pilot from the na- 
tives, and proceed up the river to a place of safety as 
quick as you can ; and be sure that you and your parties 
are all right before you trouble yourselves about any one 
else. If you reach Cape Barkin you will be safe, for 
there are plenty of natives there winter and summer." 
Then addressing me particularly, he continued : — 

" Melville, you will have no trouble in keeping up with 
me, but if anything should happen to separate us, you 
can find your way in without any difficulty by the trend 
of the coast-line ; and you know as much about the na- 
tives and their settlements as anyone else." This was 
our last conversation in a body. 

As soon as we had embarked De Long led off under 
full sail, laying the course southwest. We sped forward 
at a good rate, but the sea had risen considerably, and 
began to bother us when we had cleared the ice. Owing 
to the superior speed of the whale-boat, I encountered 
some difficulty in preserving my position astern of the 
first cutter. I had taken in one reef, and for that reason 
Chipp was keeping well up with us. But the sea grew 
steadily heavier, the boats jumped and jarred until it 
seemed they would lose their spars or mast-steps, and it 
soon became necessary that we reef our sails. My boat, 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 63 

and I think De Long's, too, was closely reefed at three 
o'clock. The first cutter, any way a dull sailor, was 
loaded very deeply, having on board, in addition to its 
share of weights and provisions for thirteen men, all the 
records, books, papers, specimens, etc., etc., beside a 
large oak sled for transportation purposes. 

The second cutter was now performing very badly in 
the heavy sea, and at times kept barely in sight. The 
first cutter, an excellent sea -boat, stood up splendidly 
to her work, but freighted as she was, even her weather 
cloths could not prevent the waves from breaking contin- 
ually over her. The sea, to be sure, was moving much 
faster than the boat ; so it combed and broke across her 
stern, or, running nigh her whole length, would dash 
against the weather cloths and tumble in, soaking the 
men and at times almost swamping the boat. Towards 
seven o'clock it was blowing a living gale, and it seemed 
impossible that we could struggle longer in such a sea. 
The danger to the whale-boat was imminent, since in 
trying to slacken speed so as to keep, as ordered, in the 
wake of the first cutter, the swifter waves forged ahead 
and breached clear over the stern, threatening to over- 
whelm us. Fine manoeuvring with helm and sail was 
out of the question, though at the suggestion of some 
of the men it was attempted once or twice with al- 
most fatal results ; and it was while I was endeavoring 
to deaden our speed by hauling the boat closer to the 
wind that we ran far past the first cutter and well up 
on her weather bow. It now looked as though we could 
not possibly regain our position without heaving to; 
when at this juncture De Long signaled me to approach, 
probably within hail. Should I run down towards him, 
I would certainly shoot far ahead, so there was but one 
thing to do, namely, to lower the sail, and reduce it below 
a close reef, — several men accomplishing this by gather- 
ing it in at the foot, and holding it firmly with their 



64 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

hands against the fury of the wind and the thrashing of 
the boat. It was a trick I had practiced in bad weather 
ever since we reached open water, and one that had an- 
swered admirably. But now in slackening our speed the 
waves came tumbling in and filled the boat. This, for 
the time being, naturally alarmed the men, who clinging 
tenaciously to the foot of the sail suddenly found them- 
selves steeped to their hips in icy water. They would 
as promptly release their grip, and then such a tumult 
of flapping sail, pounding boat, and demoralized baggage 
would ensue as might startle old Tom Bowline himself. 
After several of these mishaps, succeeded by vehement 
bailing with buckets and pans, and no little growling on 
the part of the crew, I perceived that we had drifted al- 
most to within hail of De Long, who was gesticulating 
and shouting something to me altogether inaudible above 
the roar of the elements. Just then a monstrous sea 
came combing onward and deluged both of us, but chiefly 
the whale-boat, which nearly filled. It started me to my 
feet, and I shouted down the wind to De Long that I 
must run or swamp. He appeared to realize the peril of 
our situation at once ; for the next instant, as the sea swept 
over and around us, lie waved his arm in an energetic 
manner motioning me onward or from him, and at the 
same time hallooed some message which was lost in the 
noise of the gale. However, I felt that we understood 
each other ; that if I would save my boat and crew I 
must run for it ; that to lay alongside of De Long meant 
quick destruction ; and that if either of the open and 
overladen boats should swamp or roll over, the other 
could not possibly rescue the unfortunate crew. 

So when De Long waved me permission to leave him, 
I hoisted sail, shook out one reef, and as we gathered way 
the boat shot forward like an arrow, and the spray flew 
about us like feathers. Heretofore we had been running 
dead before the wind on our southwest course for the 



RETREATING OVER THE PACK. 65 

land, but the heavy sea and lively motion of the boat 
caused the sail to jibe and fill on the other tack, where- 
upon we would broach to and ship water. For this reason 
I hauled up the boat several points or closer to the wind, 
and our condition at once improved. Now that we were 
separated I resolved to concern myself directly with the 
safety of my own boat; so that when one of the men 
said that De Long was signaling us, I told him he must 
be wrong, and further directed that no one should see 
any signals now that we were cast upon our own re- 
sources. 

The whale-boat was leaping forward at a spanking 
rate and fast distancing the first cutter, when, hearing 
another of the crew exclaim that De Long was signaling 
Chipp, I turned around and looked back over my left 
shoulder towards where I expected the second cutter 
would be. For an instant she was not to be seen, but 
presently I saw her far off in the dim twilight rise full 
before the wind on the crest of a wave, and then sink 
briefly out of sight. Once more she appeared ; an im- 
mense sea enveloped her ; she broached to ; I could dis- 
cern a man striving to free the sail where it had jammed 
against the mast ; she plunged again from view ; and 
though wave after wave arose and fell, I saw nothing but 
the foam and seething white caps of the cold dark sea. 
When last seen, the second cutter was about one thou- 
sand yards astern of us, the first cutter probably midway 
between, and there is no doubt in my mind that she 
then foundered. A conversation with the only two sur- 
viving members of the first cutter (Mndemann and No- 
ros) has confirmed me in this belief ; for they witnessed 
the scene as I have described it, and state that it was the 
general opinion of De Long's crew that I had shared 
the same fate simultaneously with Chipp. 



CHAPTER V. 
VOYAGE OF THE WHALE-BOAT. 

Weathering the Gale. — Our Sea- Anchor. — Siberia in Sight. 

Long before our separation, and while the sea and 
wind were growing in force and fury, the crew debated 
whether or not our boat could outlive the gale ; and 
many were the wishes that we might sight the stream 
of running ice in which to take shelter. To me it seemed 
another case of "Night or Bliicher" — ice or heave to. 
The latter alternative could only be accomplished by 
means of a drag, or sea-anchor, such as the " double- 
enders " used on our coast during the late war. It was 
only a question of size and proper weighting, which we 
thoroughly discussed, educing many suggestions that 
were not more novel than absurd. I finally ordered a 
drag to be made of three tent-poles, lashed together and 
covered with canvas so as to form a triangular parachute. 
The small watch-tackle supplied us with rope ; and the 
iron straps, block-hooks, and brass tips from the tent- 
poles, gave sufficient weight to submerge and hold the 
anchor in position. 

And here, to the reader unacquainted with the use or 
philosophy of a sea-anchor, or drag, a brief description of 
the same may not be out of place. During a gale the 
sea generally runs with the wind even against tide or 
current, though, indeed, these may do battle, and so pro- 
duce a state of neutral agitation. Still the rule is as I 
have stated it ; and consequently it becomes necessary for 



VOYAGE OF THE WHALE-BOAT. 67 

every vessel, large or small, when running before the 
wind in a heavy sea, to keep constantly ahead of the 
waves, — in other words, go faster, — else they will roll 
over the stern and swamp the boat. In great storms, 
too, the vessel may be so strained and racked that the 
timbers and fastenings will be wrenched apart, and she 
will founder, literally thrashed to pieces. Or again there 
is a more common danger, though equally fatal, where 
the sea, striking the vessel on either quarter, or rushing 
past, hurls her from her course. In this case the rud- 
der is powerless to save, being momentarily out of the 
water ; the sail jibes or fills on the other side ; and the 
sudden alteration of course and reduction of speed is in- 
stantly taken advantage of by the next wave, which 
boards or hurls itself against the vessel, in most instances 
destroying her, however large, and, if an open boat, cer- 
tainly overwhelming her. It is to avoid these perils that 
the sea-anchor is prepared. So long as a ship remains 
tight and light she will rise to meet the waves, her bows 
cleaving them sharply in two, if properly shaped, with 
a graceful buoyant swell towards the rail ; and even 
though part of a wave be carried over her bows, the top- 
gallant forecastle is there to shed it off. Now the main 
object is to hold the vessel's head to the sea. With sail- 
ing vessels this is done by using particular sails, and woe 
betide the one whose helmsman is careless of keeping 
her head just so ; for should she broach to or fall off into 
the trough of the sea, and a wave board her, all movable 
as well as many stationary articles will be swept from 
her decks. It is an easy matter to keep a steamer's head 
to the sea, and by slowly turning the engine gain suffi- 
cient headway to hold her in command ; or, assisted by a 
little sail to prevent rolling, she may be laid to in safety. 
Yet, if too much speed be given the steamer, the waves 
will dash over her forecastle and sweep her decks, as 
they would those of the sailing ship. 



68 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

But to keep the head of our little craft to the sea we 
must resort to the drag, or sea-anchor. If a parachute be 
made and so loaded as to sink properly below the sur- 
face of the water, and a rope be attached which passes 
through or is fastened to the bow of the boat, it can 
plainly be seen how the parachute, if of sufficient area, 
will, as it drags slowly through the water, keep the head 
of the boat toward the sea. The boat, catching the wind, 
is hurried along, and would soon be turned sideways and 
rolled over like a log were it not for the anchor, which 
gently but firmly resists the furious tugging of the would- 
be suicide. Should the drag from any cause float to the 
surface, or the rope break, its efficacy is at once lost, and 
doubtless also the boat ; or, if it hangs perpendicularly 
under the boat when a sea rushes upon it, the drag will 
become an additional weight for the bow to lift, failing 
in which the boat's head will be buried ; perhaps the 
stern, too. It should be borne in mind that a sea-anchor 
is drawn through the water after the manner of an aerial 
parachute dropped weighted from a balloon. 

So now, not only the propriety of making one, but its 
size and weight, became momentous questions with us, 
since in our party of eleven there were none who had lain 
with a drag in an open boat ; and those I had seen on 
steamers during the war could give me no adequate idea 
of the kind now required in our emergency. Hence I 
had nothing to rely upon but my good judgment, though 
I listened attentively to the many authorities around me, 
even if I did not seek their opinion. Jack Cole, my 
main prop as a seaman, declared that the drag would 
come home on us if not weighted more than it was. Cole 
and Manson made it, I having selected the canvas. Dan- 
enhower, seated beside me in the stern sheets, held the 
end of the boat-fall, and so singled the three anchor ropes, 
preserving an equality of strain on the three corners of 
the drag. Leach (seaman) was steering, and I, as before 



VOYAGE OF THE WHALE-BOAT. 69 

and after, steadily attended the sheet. By this time 
my hands were swollen, blistered, and split open by the 
cold and stagnation of my blood. When poor Jack Cole 
protested that the drag was not heavy enough and would 
surely come back on us, I had nothing else to weight it 
with other than our cook-kettles or fire-pots, so I deter- 
mined to launch it as it was. The first cutter had been 
lost to sight for more than an hour ; it had taken us two 
hours to prepare the drag ; and it was now nine o'clock 
(of the night of September 12th). 

Finally, with the fire-pot ready to slip on the rope in 
case Jack Cole's fears should be realized, we were pre- 
pared to test the efficacy of our anchor, when, at this 
juncture, Mr. Danenhower asked me if I would permit 
him to put the boat about. I hesitated a moment, and 
then replied no, that I would do it myself. But the next 
instant, concluding that, if there was any especial point 
in the seamanship of putting the boat about in a gale 
of wind of which I might be ignorant, and he as a pro- 
fessional sailor aware, it was my duty as commander to 
avail myself of it or any other chance that might in- 
sure the safety of my men; so I granted his request, 
standing by, however, with a view to any emergency. 
The oars were gotten out, the helmsman directed to 
watch the sea, and the drag was carried forward to the 
bow and placed in charge of fireman Bartlett, the rope 
being coiled under his feet, and he was ordered to see 
everything cleared when word was given to throw out 
the drag. It is a well-known fact among sailors that the 
waves of the ocean follow each other in succession of 
threes ; that is, after a large wave the two which follow 
will surely be as heavy in appearance, at least. When 
such a succession had occurred it was but the work of a 
moment to "starboard the helm, lower away the hal- 
yards, and gather in the sail." Then, — " Give away 
starboard, and back port " was the order ; but before we 



70 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

could veer around, an awkward, lazy wave came tum- 
bling in torrents upon us. Pumping and bailing with 
might and main, we kept the boat before the sea and 
awaited a calm ; until, after a hurried consultation, we 
put her about again, and as she came around head to the 
sea, Bartlett cast clear the drag. As he did so, the boat's 
head dived down into the hollow of a wave, and I saw 
Bartlett lose his balance and pitch headlong forward, ap- 
parently into the sea. But with his right hand he had 
grasped the halyards, which were flying clear of the mast, 
and the next instant, as the boat arose on the crest of a 
wave, he was hurled sprawling back against the mast, 
where he clung for his life. When I saw his frantic 
struggles, my heart leaped into my throat lest he would 
plunge overboard, and had such been the case, no matter 
how great his vigor and power of endurance, his fate 
would certainly have been sealed. And now, for a short 
time, we were forced to use the oars in a most clumsy 
manner, in order to keep our bow toward the sea. The 
drag was too light, and began to rise to the surface and 
drift rapidly to leeward. The boat, held in place by the 
oars, yawed about, shipping considerable water, and Jack 
Cole gave vent to his expected " I tould yees so." For 
this I was prepared, however, and soon had the copper 
fire-pot running out along the rope towards the drag, 
which it promptly sank and caused to rest much better. 
So the oars were brought into the boat, and the weather- 
cloths again raised over the tops of the stanchions and 
backs of the men. 

And now, how long we must thus lie anchored would 
altogether depend upon the duration of the gale. Mis- 
erable we were, indeed, with the sea dashing constantly 
over us, and our strength severely taxed in bailing out 
the flood with pump, buckets, and pans. Danenhower 
and myself had vacated our two seats in the stern sheets 
to permit a freer use of the steering oar; and I now 



VOYAGE OF THE WHALE-BOAT. 71 

divided the men into two watches ; detailing Cole and 
Bar tie tt to look after the forward part of the boat, and 
Leach, Wilson, and Manson to take regular turns of two 
hours each at the steering oar. The others I directed to 
lie down on the thwarts or seats, and get what rest they 
could. Sleep was impossible, but it was a great relief to 
stretch our limbs after their long cramping, and feel the 
warm blood flowing again towards our almost frozen feet. 
The weather-cloths were frail bulwarks, and the waves 
broke over them on either side. Then "Quick, quick, be- 
fore another one comes ! " and we, weary wretches that 
we were, faint from hunger and thirst (for we had no 
water left), would renew our exertions, and bail clear our 
little craft ere the next wave could tumble in and wreck 
us. And the intervals — they were lucid with the cruel 
spray which dashed and froze upon us. Thus we passed 
the night, an incubus of horrors, and at daybreak there 
was no abatement of the storm. We had among our 
medical stores one quart of brandy and one of whiskey, 
and a request for a drink being made by one person and 
eagerly seconded by others, I drew forth the latter bot- 
tle and told Bartlett to divide it as equally as possible 
among the ten men ; not caring for it myself and feeling 
rather chagrined that any one else should ask for it. In 
the division, Bartlett dealt with a too liberal hand, and 
alas ! for himself, went dramless along with me. 

Daylight did nothing but enhance our misery, since it 
enabled us to witness each other's wretchedness. For 
breakfast I issued a quarter of a pound of pemmican to 
each man, the same allowance I had made for supper the 
night before. I could not and did not eat my ration, 
small as it was, and so returned it to the common fund. 
I had now placed the men on one half the ration they 
had been receiving before the separation, or three quar- 
ters of a pound of pemmican instead of one and a half 
pounds, hoping by this economy to make our four or five 



72 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

days' supply last twice as long, and in this I succeeded. 
The vessels we had filled with snow were all deluged 
with salt-water ; and though each of the other boats was 
possessed of five and ten gallon water breakers, yet the 
one belonging to the whale-boat, it will be remembered, 
was abandoned on the ice with the story of the Jeannette 
between its oaken ribs. The others complained of thirst, 
but I never felt the need of a drink until we came upon 
the sweet water of the river. I constantly chewed a 
piece of wood, which induced a flow of saliva, and my 
body, as indeed the bodies of my companions, exuded but 
little. Again, throughout the whole of my Arctic expe- 
rience, I accustomed n^self to do without water for 
drinking purposes ; and I am confident that outside of 
our usual allowance of tea and coffee at morning and 
evening meals, and a small cup of black coffee at noon, I 
did not drink three pints of water during the time we 
were on board ship and on the march. This saved me 
much of the suffering that the others endured ; for while 
on the ice I have seen many of the men, when they 
thought they were unobserved, drink from the pools and 
eat of the soft salty snow, which De Long had forbidden 
them so to touch. 

As the day wore on, the wind, which had shifted, 
seemed to subside, and the sea became more broken and 
turbulent. The heavily-laden boat now sunk deeper 
than ever, and, almost water-logged, shipped water, as 
she rose and fell, over forecastle and stern. Still we 
stuck bravely to our work, and poor Iniguin, who had 
been little at sea, sat squarely down in the bottom of the 
boat and bailed for dear life. He and Charley Tong 
Sing were, in fact, our most effective bailers. About 
three or four o'clock in the afternoon the clouds began 
to roll away, we caught glimpses of the blue sky, and 
there was every evidence of the gale having spent its 
fury. At this season of the year the sun was exactly 



VOYAGE OF THE WHALE-BOAT. T3 

twelve hours above the horizon, and when it shone we 
encountered no difficulty in shaping our course by my 
old watch. The sun arose at six A. M., was due south at 
noon, and set at six P. M. ; so I had two checks on the 
watch, besides the one at noon by compass, which, being 
a prismatic instrument, did not swing as easily as a 
mariner's compass. It was fitted too neatly to its case, 
and the water gaining entrance glued the circle and 
clogged its movement ; so that while afloat we found it 
better to steer by sun and moon when they were visible. 

At five o'clock the sea and wind had calmed suffi- 
ciently to permit of my getting under way, which I did 
at once, laying the course about southwest for Cape Bar- 
kin. The wind had shifted more to the eastward, and we 
ran rapidly along, with the moon and stars now shining 
brightly. At six o'clock on the morning of the 14th we 
were sailing through the young ice, and keeping a bright 
lookout for the land which we expected to raise every 
moment, when the boat suddenly brought up on a shoal. 
Long and anxiously we gazed in the hope of sighting 
the low beach or mountains back of the Delta ; but to no 
purpose. Bartlett thought he saw land ; but as no one 
else confirmed his guess, I concluded that the shoal made 
off shore beyond the range of our vision ; so we pushed 
off and stood to the eastward. My orders were to pro- 
ceed to Cape Barkin, where I would be sure to find na- 
tives, with whom I could arrange to be piloted into the 
river to a native or Cossack village. 

I felt assured of our general position, knowing, from 
the northeast gale which had steadily blown while we 
lay to, that we were now to the west of Cape Barkin, 
eastward of which I also knew was the Bay of Bor- 
khia. So I kept the boat to the eastward all day, at the 
same time progressing, whenever an opportunity offered, 
toward the southward. The weather was genial and 
warm, the sun glowing clear in the heavens, and to all 



74 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

appearances there never blew a gale over so placid a sea. 
Morning, noon, and night we ate our quarter of a pound 
of pemmican without water or drink of any kind. Six 
o'clock — and as the sun sank in the west a cloud arose 
in the east. The wind began to blow in fitful puffs, and 
every man foretold another storm. I knew the season 
was well advanced and the time at hand when fall gales 
must be expected, but could not believe that we were 
about to suffer another siege similar to the one we had 
barely weathered but a day or two before. It seemed 
too inclement, too merciless ; yet if the worst came we 
had only to face and fight it fairly, however brutal and 
unequal the contest between our feebleness and the cow- 
ardly rage of the storm king. 

And, in the first place, it would never do for us to be 
caught napping on the shoals. I had lost all faith in our 
ability to reach Cape Barkin or the shore except at the 
mouth of one of the rivers. Bartlett had been sounding 
all day with a tent-pole ; but our efforts to work toward 
the southward or beach had been regularly unavailing; 
so, as darkness approached, I decided to stand off or 
along shore to the eastward, having discovered that the 
water deepened in that direction. Accordingly I reefed 
sail and ran on until six o'clock of the following morn- 
ing, when we found ourselves in nine fathoms of water, — 
additional proof that we were now in the Bay of Borkhia, 
and had struck the coast-line about twenty miles to the 
east of Cape Barkin. I now proposed to attempt an 
entrance into one of the many branches of the Lena, and 
so put the boat about on a southwest course. The wind 
was light and the weather fine ; indeed, when I had run 
from the coast twelve hours and trusted to making it 
again the next twelve I had calculated without my host, 
for shortly the wind died away and we were fain to use 
the oars, still very grateful for our good fortune in escap- 
ing the prospective storm-struggle. But the current of 



VOYAGE OF THE WHALE-BOAT. 75 

the river set out so strongly to the eastward, bearing us 
on its bosom, that whereas I had at first hoped to make 
the land on this day, I now saw, with regret, that all 
our rowing would scarcely do more than hold the boat in 
its course. Day died into dusk, and all through the 
night we toiled, by watches, at the oars and bailers, 
quickly casting out the sea before it could solidly freeze 
in the bottom of the boat, for it changed to slush the 
moment it tumbled in. At dawn of the 16th we were 
again in shoal water, indicating our approach to the east 
coast. The men were now painfully athirst, and as we 
progressed kept tasting the water, all the while begging 
permission to drink of it ; and it was surprising how anx- 
ious they all were to just sip it and see if it was fresh 
enough ; but noticing that the tasting process was only a 
ruse for drinking, I prohibited it altogether, promising 
to make tea as soon as the water was fit. 

At this period high lands, apparently a mountain- 
range, were seen to the southward, but nothing greeted 
our sight to the westward, where the low lands of the 
Delta should be. I was counseled and urged to steer in 
toward the mountains ; but my main object was now to 
join company with the natives, who, according to the 
charts and our best information, roamed all over the 
Delta from Cape Barkin to Bukoffski Moose (Bull 
Point). Our provisions were about exhausted, and the 
meagre ration of three quarters of a pound was telling 
on the spirits and energy of the crew. So, having still 
a desire to obey my orders and make, if possible, Cape 
Barkin, and having, as well, full confidence in the truth 
of my chart, which distinctly declared "winter huts of 
natives " to be there, I held my course to the westward, 
and presently raised two low spits of land with a gap of 
four or five miles between, evidently the mouth of a 
river. Towards this I made directly, and by following 
up the sweet water soon ran into a swift current. Mean- 



76 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

while the men were confidently assuring me that the 
water was fresh ; so I ordered a pot of tea to be brewed, 
which, proving too salty, I threw away. A mess of 
canned mutton broth and ham, that I had heated and 
watered well into a pleasant stew, then atoned, however, 
for the loss ; and we had breakfasted. 



CHAPTER VI. 
ON THE LENA DELTA. 

Sailing up Stream. — The Hut. — Our Frozen Limbs. — Meeting 
with the Natives. — Learning their Language. 

By this time we were well within the mouth of the 
river, making W. N. W. Considerable driftwood lay on 
the southern beach, and I tried to effect a landing in 
order to afford all hands a most needed opportunity of 
stretching our limbs, and coaxing our blood into circu- 
lation, for our feet, legs, and hands were now entirely 
bereft of feeling : all save those of one or two persons, 
who being without any particular occupation had availed 
themselves of their idleness to remove their foot-gear 
and rub with a towel, about twice an hour, their limbs 
as high as their knees, — expressing the while great sur- 
prise that others did not idle away their time in a sim- 
ilar manner. I could see the water shoal and ripple 
along the shore, and as there was but very little swell 
directed the boat to be beached ; but she took the bottom 
one hundred yards off shore, and, in spite of all our pre- 
cautions and exertions, was carried by the swell almost 
broadside on the beach, in great danger of capsizing or 
rolling over. This was not due to any lubberly handling 
or guiding of the boat, but the men were too numb to 
act promptly, too weak to lift or work their oars ; and it 
was very noticeable and discouraging how the cold had 
robbed us of our vitality, and produced a dullness of 
mind, movement, and speech among the whole party. 



78 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

But we were soon afloat again, and I now consulted my 
chart, a pencil copy of De Long's, which, in turn, was 
a copy of a small chart published in the " Geographische 
Mittheilungen," by Petermann, the eminent German ge- 
ographer, in connection with a scientific paper on the 
coast of Siberia and the Lena Delta in particular. From 
it I learned that all the branches of the Lena on the east 
side of the Delta, with one exception, discharged their 
waters to the north of east, and that the branch in which 
I had entered emptied to the south of east ; or, the course 
up the river as it lay before me was about W. N. W., 
and because of its great width at the mouth I concluded 
that we must be in the main branch, which flowed by 
Bukoffski Moose. The presence of a large island corre- 
sponding to one laid down on the chart confirmed me in 
this opinion, but I was surprised to find so little water in 
so broad a river, it being necessary for us to sound con- 
tinually with a tent-pole in order to avoid getting ashore 
on either bank. Our common dangers and miseries had 
bred a closer fellowship among us than the relations be- 
tween officers and men usually admit of. We conversed 
together at all times of our many past escapes, and of the 
uncertainty of our future. Of one thing we were glad 
and sure. This was the main branch of the river ; 
we had assuaged our suffering from thirst, and had now 
a bountiful supply of sweet water. The hot tea seemed 
to have thawed out our tongues, and we speculated freely 
upon the fate of our companions ; the general opinion 
being that ours was the only boat which outlived the 
gale. And so, " Hurrah for the whale-boat," said we. 

But a matter which concerned and troubled me most 
was the possibility that De Long and Chipp had suc- 
ceeded in reaching Cape Barkin ; and hence should I not 
obey orders and proceed there too ? My verbal instruc- 
tions, indeed, had been to first seek a place of safety for 
my own crew, and, if the other boats in arriving at Cape 



ON THE LENA DELTA. 79 

Barkin had met with no natives, my joining them there 
would be no relief, but only a senseless addition to our 
general misfortune. Mr. Danenhower sat beside me in 
the stern sheets, and we naturally discussed the situation 
together. He strongly advised me to go to sea again, 
and work up to Cape Barkin, where " we would be sure 
to find natives ; " though it was only some forty miles to 
the north of our present position. The river grew more 
tortuous and narrow, assuming the appearance of a blind 
stream issuing from a swamp, so I finally told Danen- 
hower that if it did not show better by noon, I would 
put the boat about and try for Cape Barkin and the na- 
tives. It was but a day's journey, and I had no hesi- 
tancy in attempting it, until I glanced at my men, — 
weak, hungry, and hollow-eyed, — and then remembered 
the shallow coast, the stormy weather, and our recent 
hardships ; while ahead of us I had now not the faintest 
doubt of finding succor. Still, — orders, alleged relief at 
Barkin, and the possibility of the other boats being there 
and in danger. At twelve o'clock we struck a shoal, and 
agreeably to my expressed intention I ordered the boat 
about and announced that we would return toward Cape 
Barkin. It was quite evident from the look of grave sur- 
prise on the faces of many, that the crew did not wish to 
risk the chance of another gale at sea. There was con- 
siderable murmuring, but the boat was turned around, 
when suddenly fireman Bartlett said, — 

" Mr. Melville, I don't believe this river is as small as 
you imagine ; there is plenty of water if we can only 
find it, and if you will but think a minute you will see 
that the river even here is as large as the Mississippi at 
New Orleans." 

Our fellow-suffering, I repeat, had been a bond which 
bound us all together ; I had listened attentively to every 
suggestion the men saw fit to offer me, cheerfully adopt- 
ing any that, to my mind, might conduce to our comfort 



80 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

or safety, and equally careful of turning aside, without 
hurting the feelings of my counselor, any advice not per- 
tinent to, or out of the question. So, giving heed to 
what Bartlett said, and well recalling the appearance of 
the Mississippi at New Orleans, I ordered the boat about 
again, and proceeded up the river. Thus did his timely 
admonition, like the proverbial straw which alters cur- 
rents, luckily deter me from cruising to Cape Barkin, 
where, the following spring, I found nothing but the 
remains of old huts which had not been occupied for 
years. 

We now labored forward with renewed vigor, born of 
hope, — the hope that we would soon meet with a village, 
a hut, a canoe, a man, — saviors that our previous reading 
had led us to believe were abundant in the district round 
about us. I did not regain, however, my lost faith in the 
game with which the Arctic regions are reported to 
abound. A few black ducks, geese, and swans, late in 
rearing their young, paddled about, awaiting the matur- 
ity of their broods ere they would follow the other feath- 
ered tribes in their winter flight. Several seals exhibited 
themselves at odd times ; or perhaps it was but one and 
the same seal, for they are very curious, and will pop up 
and gaze at a boat or a man until a bullet ends their ob- 
servations. Doubtless the reader will wonder why I did 
not tarry to secure even this solitary seal. But I knew 
too well the uncertainty of shooting from a boat at an 
object one hundred yards distant, not much larger than 
a double fist, and which in all probability would duck 
under at the flash of the gun. I have seen as many as 
forty shots, requiring two hours for their discharge, fired 
at this elusive game, without other result than the loss 
of powder and patience. 

Toward dusk the wind grew cold and blustering. We 
were surrounded by sand-spits and low islands, while in 
front of us there seemed to be two main channels sepa- 



ON THE LENA DELTA. 81 

rated by a large island which towered upward like a great 
fortification. After many trials we at length found a 
way through the shoals, and during the delay of more 
than a hour had sighted a black uncertain object, near 
to a collection of sticks apparently forming a series of 
traps. The prospect of passing another benumbed and 
sleepless night in the boat was horrible; so, when we 
discovered the dim object on shore to be a hut, our joy 
was almost as great as though we had suddenly chanced 
upon a modern metropolis. After making several inef- 
fectual efforts to land abreast of the hut, we finally 
moored the boat in a friendly little cove, and then, dis- 
embarking for the first time in five days, attempted to 
stretch our limbs. I say attempted, for most of us were 
powerless to control them. As for feeling in feet and 
legs, we had none; and my fingers could not perceive 
the difference in size between a rope and a needle. 

We took possession of the vacant hut. It was old and 
dilapidated, having been rudely constructed of small 
round timber and split poles. Its general dimensions 
were, at the base about eight feet square, the sides four 
feet high, sloping or with a batir of about thirty de- 
grees ; the whole being covered with mud, tundra, and 
lichens. There was a fire-place some three feet square in 
the centre of the hut, over which, in the roof, was an 
opening about two feet square, formed by a rude frame, 
notched in, and supported by transverse rafters, which, 
as well as the sides of the primitive dwelling, were cov- 
ered with earth and sods. It was a hunting hut, used 
temporarily by the natives during the summer season, 
when they hunt the deer or geese ; and had been vacated 
but a few days before, since the fresh offal of birds and 
fish lay in and around it. The hunters had evidently 
been accompanied by their children, for we found a num- 
ber of little toys or playthings ; among others a rough 
cutting in wood representing a man seated on the back 



82 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

of a reindeer. There was nothing, however, to indicate 
where the recent tenants had gone, or whether they 
intended to return ; though, to be sure, it was natural 
to suppose that, with the hunting season over, they had 
journeyed back to their village for the winter. The 
traps were old and unset, the majority of them used for 
catching the fox, while a few that were larger we then 
thought to be intended for the wolf. 

After unloading and securing our boat, we collected a 
pile of wood, and soon had a camp-fire roaring and crack- 
ling merrily. Our bag of tea, knocking about in the 
bottom of the boat, had been thoroughly saturated with 
salt-water; still, with the stew and soup made of the 
birds shot at Simonoski Island and reserved till now, we 
drank it, and supped with relish. Then carrying up our 
few wet clothes, we all, barely able to lie down, crowded 
around the fire, sitting huddled together in a heap. Up 
to the present time, beyond the torpor referred to, there 
had been no sign of our limbs having frozen, and I be- 
lieved the frost to have been sufficiently driven out, by 
our splashing around in the icy river, to permit of our 
approaching the fire with impunity. So, we enjoyed 
the genial warmth, and by comparison were in perfect 
harmony with our new environment, even though it was 
a tumble-down hut through whose wide chinks the cold 
blast filtered perhaps a little less freely than it might 
through a rail fence. Long we talked, and uninterrupt- 
edly, reviewing the past and guessing the future, always 
mourning the loss of those dreary " ten days," for had 
we been so much earlier, — ah, what might not have 
been, indeed ! 

Presently most of us were tortured with agonizing 
pains in our hands, feet, and legs. Sleep was utterly out 
of the question ; and many were forced to leave the fire, 
and even desert the hut entirely, in order to avoid the ir- 
ritating heat. Our legs, upon examination, presented a 



ON THE LENA DELTA. 83 

terribly swollen appearance, being frozen from the knees 
down; and those places where they had previously been 
so frozen and puffed as to burst such moccasins as were 
not already in tatters, or force the seams into gaps cor- 
responding to the cracks in our bleeding hands and feet, 
were now in a frightful condition. The blisters and 
sores had run together, and our flesh became as sodden 
and spongy to the touch as though we were afflicted with 
the scurvy. To move caused us the most excruciating 
agony, and it seemed as if we were about to be worsted 
in the end by what we regarded as our best friend, — fire. 
Packed closely together in the hut, crippled, and nearly 
blinded by the smoke, it was no wonder that in stag- 
gering about we trod unintentionally upon each other's 
feet. I had removed my moccasins, and one of the men, 
in reentering, planted his whole weight upon my left 
foot ; the skin gave way from the ankle down, and shot 
my friend (or enemy for the time being) off to one side, 
like a ship slipped from its greased launching way. 

We hailed the morning with delight, and, feebly break- 
ing our fast with the scant quarter of a pound of pem- 
mican, reembarked, full, at least, of good cheer, at the 
outlook of a fine day's journey, which by my calculation 
would carry us to the first village marked on our chart. 
Following the main branch of the river to the westward, 
we eventually ran into a small archipelago, threaded in 
all directions by shallow little streams, from which there 
seemed no escape. It was about noontime, so we re- 
peated our dose of pemmican, and while some stayed to 
brew a pot of tea others set out to reconnoitre the lay of 
the land, and explore the various leads in the labyrinth 
of streams. At the same time, Newcomb seized his gun 
and tried to steal upon a flock of wild geese which he saw 
on the tundra. But alas ! either the wind was in their 
favor, or the men made too much noise; at any rate the 
geese flatly refused to tarry and contribute to our suste- 



84 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

nance. On the reconnaissance another deserted hut was 
seen to the southeast of our position, but not visited ; and, 
as the water seemed to lead nowhere in particular, I de- 
termined to head the boat up stream, reasoning that like 
every other thing it, too, must have an end, which we, 
should the river remain open and our provisions last, must 
some time reach. And thus it was. In an hour or two 
we were again in a navigable stream, a mile and a half 
wide, and flowing swiftly. With a fresh breeze we sped 
along against the current at a rapid rate, passing a long 
high island tallying to one on the chart, and continuing 
on without difficulty until we came to a fork in the river. 
Here, I first essayed the northwest branch, but discover- 
ing it to be a mere pocket or mud-hole, turned back and 
followed the west or west by south branch ; when the 
wind died out, and we were obliged to resort to the oars. 
The current was strong and swift, our rowers weak 
and dispirited ; but several miles ahead there was a tall 
promontory where the river turned abruptly to the south- 
ward ; and towards this I steered, keeping close in shore 
out of the force of the current, and encouraging the men 
with the assurance that twelve or fifteen miles beyond 
the promontory, where we would camp over night, there 
was a village according to the chart, and that next day 
we would surely arrive there. The pull was a long and 
laborious one, and it was well-nigh night when we 
rounded the point and landed on the miry, shelving 
beach, which we designated the " Mud Camp." 

Setting up the two tents, we gathered enough soggy 
wood to build a smoky fire, and then turned in. Danen- 
hower, Newcomb, Cole, and Bartlett climbed the hill, 
some sixty or more feet above us, and slept in a small 
hut erected there by the natives as a deer lookout. The 
night was cold and blustering; there was alight fall of 
snow, and at dawn the weather looked lowering. The 
wind blew stiffly from the westward, and the broad ex- 



ON THE LENA DELTA. 85 

panse of river, which here ran north and south, was roll- 
ing like a little sea, its bosom covered with white caps, and 
the young ice making along its shores. We were mostly 
so disabled as to move about with difficulty, Cole, Leach, 
and Lauterbach complaining particularly of their frozen 
feet ; and as I wished to keep every one as dry as possi- 
ble, I winded the boat about on shore, and stowing all 
the cripples, myself included, tried to push off ; but to no 
purpose. Some of the men, at length, leaped over the 
bows and set us free, but before they could jump back 
again the boat was whirled amid stream, and it was only 
after great exertion that we could pick them up again. 
I then sailed under one reef up the river toward the set- 
tlements. Danenhower now asked permission to act as 
coxswain for the day. His hands and feet were in good 
condition, and, although one eye was bandaged up, he 
seemed to see well enough with the other; so I gladly 
consented, pleased to have a relief for my helmsman, 
albeit there was none for me, since I would not intrust 
the keeping of the sheet to other than my own hands, now 
cracked and swollen out of shape. The wind came rush- 
ing down the hills and through the cuts in " willa-was," 
careening our boat until the water seethed along her lee 
rail and soaked us in spray. Soon a herd of four or five 
deer was seen scampering across the crown of a distant 
hill, and we hopelessly sniffed the meal from afar. For 
our general condition now caused me considerable anx- 
iety ; with such fierce gusts and in our maimed and 
weakened state, with a half blind steersman, should the 
boat strike a snag or shoal and capsize, we could scarcely 
escape drowning in the fast running, freezing water. 

We had been under way little more than an hour when 
two large, well-preserved huts hove in sight on the west 
bank of the river. Our hopes at once rose high — were 
there natives here? A closer approach decided in the 
negative. Signs there were of recent occupancy ; but no 



86 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

smoke — that infallible emblem of human habitation and 
cheer — issued from the chimneys. What a beacon and 
a joy, indeed, to the weary wanderer is the smoke which 
floats from tenements in every clime ! The blue, peaceful 
cloud is a welcome anywhere, whether seen, as I have 
seen it, softly curling above the quiet cot in the jungle of 
Africa, the tangled forest of South America, the tundra 
plain of Siberia, or, stained with the lurid light of the 
fire, shoot seemingly upward from a snow-bank, beneath 
which is buried the busy, bustling hut of the Tunguse or 
Yakut, whose hospitable inmates, warned by the howl 
of the native wolf-dog (for the Esquimaux dog does not 
flourish in northeastern Siberia), are making ready for 
the coming guest. 

However, I ran the boat into a little cove at the mouth 
of a creek, where the huts, apparently a fishing and 
hunting station, were located. A large quantity of drift- 
wood and a number of native utensils were distributed 
about, proving that the huts had not been permanently 
deserted. Further delay was dangerous; but we had 
rested so little during the past two days, that I decided 
to avail myself of these elegant quarters and the chance 
arrival of natives until the following morning. There 
were several upright posts in front of the huts, and to 
one I lashed fast a tall staff, flying from its head a black 
flag, with a view to attracting the notice of natives or 
our companion boats, should either advance along what 
I took to be the main branch of the river. The boat 
hauled out and cleaned, I divided the men into two par- 
ties, assigning a hut to each ; and soon before blazing fires 
we had dried our clothing and lain down to rest. Day 
dawned fair and clear, finding us all in excellent spirits 
after a sound and much needed sleep, and it mattered 
little to me how badly my limbs were frozen ; my blood 
flowed freely, and I never lost my head. And now, in- 
deed, I had every reason to count upon our meeting 



ON THE LENA DELTA. SI 

with the natives or their villages at any time. Previous 
to leaving, I lashed a paper around the flag-staff at about 
the height of a man's nose, stating that I had landed at 
that place the day before with my company all well, and 
had proceeded to the southward in search of a settlement. 
Then, pushing off, we followed the west bank of the 
river, until, greatly to our surprise, we ran into a wide 
bay. It mystified me, since I believed that we had been 
journeying up the main eastern branch, and had turned 
south into the main river itself when we rounded the 
promontory two days before. Here, now, we were in a 
great bay from fifteen to twenty miles wide, with the 
land only visible in spots around the horizon, and the 
water so shallow that our boat was almost constantly 
aground. It was an easy matter to lay a southern course 
across the bay with watch and compass, for the weather 
was good and the sun bright ; but the difficulty was to 
find water enough in this vast area to float us. We were 
in a confusion of sand-bars, shoals, and channels; the 
currents running in every direction, and yet all tending 
to the eastward and northward. As we gradually ap- 
proached a high headland to the southward, it grew 
loftier, looming up like a mountain, and on it several 
huts were presently discernible. Long and anxiously 
we gazed for some sign of life, and I told the men that 
we would eat our dinner there if we could land. But 
the currents and shallows crowded us to the eastward ; 
no smoke issued from the huts to encourage us to pro- 
long our efforts, although we still kept a southerly course, 
passing within a mile of them ; and, at length, entering 
a channel which carried us to the eastward, I deter- 
mined it folly to further wear out the crew in vain at- 
tempts to visit these doubtless abandoned huts, and so, it 
now being long past our dinner hour, succeeded in reach- 
ing the bank below them. 

There was no game in sight, so we swallowed our usual 



88 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

tea and pemmican. An examination of some shelter 
huts on the banks gave additional proof of the recent 
presence of natives. As I had done at every landing, 
the compass was set up and the general features of the 
country observed, as well as the direction of the currents. 
The men explored around and about as far as their in- 
clination carried them, until I summoned all hands to 
reembark, intending to follow the stream against the cur- 
rent which ran out of our course to the northwest ; or, 
rather, since the water flowed from the southeast, to keep 
against it we would be forced into the northwest. I was 
debating this point with Danenhower, and at the same 
time gazing up the river, when lo ! and hurrah ! I sud- 
denly saw approaching us three canoes with a native in 
each. Not knowing whether they were friendly, but re- 
membering that the Tchuchees were very hostile at times, 
as were also the natives at Cape Prince of Wales and Cape 
Barrow at Behring Strait, I hastily got afloat in order to 
meet the strangers on equal terms, and ordered our fire- 
arms to be kept in readiness, although under cover. As 
we pulled towards them, I beckoned and signaled, but 
they fought shy of us in evident fear or suspicion. I 
then addressed them in English and German, and we all 
smiled and laughed at my successive fruitless attempts to 
open up a conversation in every modern tongue of which 
I had the slightest smattering. Finally, two of the 
canoes shot past us, but the youngest and seemingly most 
fearless of the natives drew alongside of our boat to 
receive a piece of pemmican which I directed one of my 
men to first taste and then tender him. 

His name, as we afterwards learned, was Tomat, At 
least this was a section of it ; for the natives are known 
to each other by many names, baptismal and parental, 
according to peculiarities of nature or stature, age or 
avocation. Thus, "Vasilli Kool Gar" (William-of-the- 
Cut-Ear); "Starry Nicolai" (Old Nicholas); " Georgi 



ON THE LENA DELTA. 89 

Nicolai" (George Nicholas); "Bulchoi and Malinki 
Nicolai" (Big and Little Nicholas). 

At any rate, as Malinki Tomat approached, I told one 
of the men to pay no attention to him until he was close 
upon us, and then to seize his canoe. This was done, 
much to Malinki's discomfiture and fright. He urged us 
to free him, intimating the danger of capsizing ; but we 
had now drifted down stream abreast of our late dinner 
camp, and I motioned to him our intention of landing 
again. By this time he appeared to realize that we 
meant him no harm, and only required his friendly assist- 
ance, for when we were moored he hailed his two com- 
panions, who had hauled out on the beach a mile or so 
below, and they quickly joined us. Then our friendly 
intercourse began, and one member of my party, more 
gushing than the rest, kissed each native on both cheeks ; 
which salutation they received with stolid amazement. 
I ordered a pot of tea to be prepared, and while it was 
brewing exhibited our guns, hatchets and other equip- 
ments, all of which interested and pleased them. Mean- 
while, the sailors, in a more business-like way, had over- 
hauled the canoes, and found some fish, a goose, and a 
piece of venison. The natives in presenting these arti- 
cles to us said, " Cushat, cushat," accompanying the 
utterance with a gesture indicating the act of putting 
food into the mouth. This was the first word of our 
new vocabulary — Cushat, to eat. And we at once insti- 
tuted a general search for more; eliciting the information 
that their caps were shapkas, and the red and yellow 
handkerchiefs they wore around their necks, platocks; 
which they also made us understand had come from Be- 
lunga. This was exactly what I wanted. The village 
of Belun was marked on my chart, and to it, or their 
Belunga, it was now my endeavor to have them conduct 
us. We displayed our knives; they showed us theirs, 
saying, " Knoshocks," and the next instant, " Belunga," 



90 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

pointing at the same time up the river to the westward, 
with a sweep to the southward. They likewise spoke 
of coperts, meaning merchants ; and then Malinki To- 
mat mimicked the motions of a blacksmith forging a 
knife. I could have shouted for joy at the thought of 
finding a follower of Tubal Cain here in the wilds of 
Siberia; and although the natives had exhibited little 
brass medals hung about their necks as proof of their 
Christianity, and crossed themselves and gone through 
many of the signs and genuflections of the Greek Church, 
still, to me the most welcome and assuring evidence of 
our approach to civilization was Malinki's pantomime of 
the village smith at Belun. I knew that religion in 
some form or other is found everywhere that man can 
eke out an existence, or the Christian agent penetrate ; 
but then there is so much religion in remote parts of the 
earth, and so little civilization, that I reasoned : Since the 
arts and sciences go hand in hand, even if they do not 
all centre in Belun, yet the iron-worker, one of the most 
essential contributors to industrial prosperity, is there ; 
and all will be well. 

We had arranged logs into seats around three sides of 
a fire, and sat there drinking our tea, which the natives 
called chi and seemed fully acquainted with. I poured 
a spoonful of alcohol into each of their pint pots of tea. 
Tomat did not relish the mixture, but the other two 
apparently knew whereof they drank, and Feodor, who 
proved to be a criminal Yakut exile, begged for some 
pure alcohol. I gave it to him, and observed that it 
yielded the same mellow fruit in the savage that it does 
when planted in the Christian. His spirits soared and 
he wanted more, but I stowed away the demijohn in the 
boat, and caused him to know that it must not be tam- 
pered with. After our first course of tea we put the 
kettle on, and, cooking the goose, fish, venison, and a patch 
of raw hide from the rear of one of the company's panta- 



ON THE LENA DELTA. 91 

loons all into one glorious stew, divided it equally around 
and supped. I then proceeded to inform our guests of 
my desire to reach Belun. 

To accomplish this I resorted to object teaching, — 
drawing a picture of a village with a large dome in the 
centre, surrounded by a number of lesser size. Tomat 
said "Belunga " at once, but took exception to the choice 
variety of domes or spires. This being altered to his 
liking, I then pictured the whale-boat, with sail, mast, 
and spars in place, and all hands on board, which both 
promptly pronounced to be "Flotska." Next I designed 
a man in a canoe in the act of paddling, with two com- 
panion canoes in the middle distance, and signified to 
Tomat that his was the first canoe, which would be fol- 
lowed by the whale-boat, and then his countrymen. I 
lastly indicated the direction of Belun, and motioning 
him on, uttered the word " Belunga." He comprehended 
the situation immediately, but cried, — 

" Soak, soak " (no, no) ; " boos, boos " (ice, ice) ; 
" pomree " (die) ! and casting himself upon the ground, 
he closed his eyes, and otherwise simulated the appear- 
ance of a corpse. 

We were all at first very much puzzled by shitty, an 
exclamation to which they gave frequent vent, and sup- 
posed it to be a corruption of the word city, which they 
may have acquired from the Russian traders, since the 
latter tongue has borrowed heavily from the German, 
French, arid English. But upon close attention we 
shortly learned that it was an expression of surprise or 
wonder. Tomat was bright, and taught us the names of 
all his garments and accoutrements. He owned a little 
gun — jintofki, and was delighted with our breech-loading 
Remington, though somewhat awed at the size of the 
bullet and the loud report when Bartlett pulled the trig- 
ger, and more particularly so at the hole bored by the 
bullet in the stump of a tree. They all gazed with admi- 



92 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

ration on our axe and hatchets, but were very proud of 
their own, made of un-steeled iron. The blade of the axe 
is carried in a leather or hide case to protect the edge, 
and is whetted with the steel which accompanies their 
flint and punk bag. 

Still I could not induce them to pilot us to Belun. 
They made many excuses, chiefly the great danger and 
distance ; and there was the ice forming on the river, 
and the scarcity of food and clothing ; at which they dis- 
played their tattered moccasins and other raiment. All 
this while, however, they labored to convince us that 
they would very much like to go to Belun, if possible, 
since there they could get all manner of good things, 
inter alia, plenty of vodki (rye whiskey). And after 
showing us how they would drink a great deal of it, by 
putting down one imaginary article of clothing after an- 
other in trade or pawn, until at length they could get or 
drink no more, they then, to the amusement of all, lay 
down and indicated how very sick they would be, or, as 
the sailors have it, " Hog oh ! " Meanwhile we had 
gleaned that balogan was house ; spee, sleep ; olane, rein- 
deer ; and ballook, fish ; and by means of these few words 
I shortly acquainted them with our wish to proceed at 
once to a place where we could eat and sleep. They 
willingly assented, and to show me how thoroughly they 
apprehended my meaning laid their heads in their hands, 
closed their eyes and snored ; then with cheeks distended 
they, in fancy, spurted water into their hands, and went 
through the act of washing their faces, after their cus- 
tom, saying, "Cushat, cushat, olane, ballook." This be- 
ing altogether satisfactory to both parties, we pushed off, 
and in less than a half hour, under the guidance of our 
new friends, arrived safely beneath the huts on the prom- 
ontory, which we had tried so strenuously to reach that 
day. Hauling the boat and canoes well up on the beach, 
we conveyed most of our gear to the huts ; I being par- 



ON THE LENA DELTA. 93 

ticularly careful, before I abandoned the demijohn, to 
empty all of its contents into a small alcohol breaker, of 
which the natives knew nothing, and which I carried up- 
wards with me. We found the place to be a deserted 
village, formerly known as Little Borkhia. It had badly 
gone to decay, only several huts remaining habitable, 
while a graveyard in close proximity was well filled with 
Yakuts or Tunguse. This, I afterwards learned, is the 
state of affairs all over the Delta ; the cities of the dead 
are much more populous and prevalent than those of the 
living. For, as the guides told me later on, when a death 
occurs in a balogan or hut, it is instantly abandoned ; 
and chancing upon a thickly settled cemetery where the 
graves were marked by rudely hewn crosses, my guides 
would say, — 

" Yakut pomree manorga ; Yakut crass manorga " — 
(many dead Yakuts ; many Yakut crosses). 

We appropriated two huts, built rousing fires, made 
tea, and the natives, setting their nets, caught some fish 
for our supper. In the mean time our pantomime com- 
munications progressed with more or less understanding. 
The names of our three friends, we found without ex- 
changing cards, were To mat, Karranie, and Feodor, the 
last being a miserable dependent upon the other two. 
Tomat informed us that Karranie would go in search of 
an old man, Vasilli Kool Gar, whom he called " Ta Ta " 
(father), but who, I afterwards learned, was his father- 
in-law, and would also bring olane cushat, deer to eat. 
Our meal ended, after some additional indulgence in the 
delights of conversation we all turned in. This was the 
first balogan or hut we had seen which affected a fire- 
place, a wooden floor, and berths arranged around the 
walls. It is needless to say how wondrously dirty it was, 
or how pungent the odor of ancient fish and bones ; yet 
we were very glad to be so comfortably housed, for out- 
side a wild snow-storm raged in the night. 



CHAPTER VII. 

UP THE LENA. 

My Unsuccessful Effort " to go it alone." — Vasilli Kool Gar. — My 
Duck Diplomacy. — Fears of Scurvy. — Arii, the Deserted Village. 
— Spiridon, the Ugly Starosti. — Siberian Ice- Cellars. — Jamave- 
loch. 

Before retiring I noticed the natives paid their de- 
votions to a small brass icon, in the left hand corner of 
the hut, farthest from the door. The bed or berth in this 
corner, no matter how the dwelling faces, is invariably 
the guest chamber, and over it the icon or icons (for there 
are often a dozen or more of them) are placed on a little 
shelf, together with a number of small wax tapers the 
thickness of a lead-pencil and about three inches long, 
which are lighted on special occasions, or, in the case of 
wealthy natives, kept burning throughout their devotions. 
We passed a restful night, and awoke to a good break- 
fast of fish caught over night in the nets which the na- 
tives had reset. Karranie had not yet returned, and I 
began to doubt the fidelity of the natives, discerning in 
their manner, however friendly, a certain fear of us, and 
suspecting from their actions that they contemplated 
stealing away and leaving us in the lurch. I tried to in- 
duce Tomat to embark with us, or pilot us in his own 
canoe, but all to no purpose ; and when I directed one of 
the men to seize and force him into the boat his piteous 
demonstrations of dread determined us to go on without 
him. The condition of my men, the low state of our 
provisions, and my anxiety to reach Belun, where I could 
communicate with the Russian authorities and arrange 



UP THE LENA. 95 

for a search for De Long and Chipp, would brook of no 
delay. So I took what fish the natives had, and Mr. 
Newcomb traded a knife and neck-comforter for a net, 
of which we hoped to make excellent use in case of an 
emergency. Then with much reluctance I shoved off, 
and left our good Tomat standing tearfully on the beach. 

He had persisted in assuring us that we could not get 
to Belun, but had pointed out the way to the villages to 
the southeast. Here I was in a quandary. The west 
northwest current was running strongly. Danenhower 
cautioned me, " Melville, you should go to the south ; 
not that way." 

But I nevertheless did desire to keep the boat's head 
against the stream ; still the arguments of my companion 
and the existence of the villages prevailed, and I endeav- 
ored to work along what I conceived to be the southwest 
coast of the main river. But the shoals intervened, forcing 
us off to the eastward, and we made very little southing. 
At length, getting the boat far out into the bay where 
we had been the day before, I sighted two tall headlands 
to the southward, and believing the river to debouch be- 
tween, endeavored all day to reach them. The weather 
was raw and windy, the water rough, and it seemed im- 
possible for us to proceed a mile in any direction without 
lodging on a sand-bank. At two o'clock in the afternoon 
I decided to return to Borkhia. The wind meanwhile 
had moderated and was fair, but there was no channel, 
and the water breaking over the spits and bars drenched 
us to the skin, and froze in the boat. The men were ex- 
hausted with constant rowing, bailing, pumping, and sail- 
ing. Bartlett had called out the soundings from the 
time we started, and, wet from head to foot, his clothing 
had frozen stiff ; the tent-pole he used as a sounding-rod 
was a mass of ice ; and his hands were swollen and 
cracked in a horrible manner. The thawing out and 
comparative luxury of the night previous had doubtless 



96 IN TEE LENA DELTA. 

rendered us more tender and susceptible to cold and 
pain, for certainly the complaints were now greater than 
ever before. My legs from the knees down were covered 
with sores and blisters, causing me the most intense 
agony. Leach, Manson, and Wilson, being younger than 
Cole, appeared to work the boat quicker than he at my 
word of command, when Bartlett shouted the soundings 
from the bow, but they had been on duty all day and 
were now utterly fagged out. Though I had continually 
held the sheet, I did so mechanically, my hands having 
been robbed of all feeling. Towards night Danenhower 
volunteered to steer, but the wind and snow blinded him ; 
and after several attempts to lay a course according to 
the direction of the wind as it blew against his cheek (I 
having rolled up the ear-guards of his cap for that pur- 
pose), with the almost disastrous result of jibing the 
boat, I ordered Leach to relieve him at the tiller, — con- 
cluding to anchor for the night under the lee of the first 
shoal we encountered, and like St. Paul await the coming 
of the day. After trying once or twice to round a point 
of land on which we could see the white waves dashing, — 
our boat close on the wind and the lee oars in motion to 
keep her clear of the shoal, — we at last succeeded, and 
found ourselves in deep quiet water behind the bar. 

But how to anchor without an anchor or even an ex- 
cuse for one ! Our only resource was to fasten the boat 
to a stake, and even this article being denied us I directed 
Bartlett to drive three of the brass-tipped tent-poles far 
down into the ooze ; and then, that they might not be 
loosened or pulled out by excessive strain at the tops, I 
caused a loop to be made at the end of the painter, and 
this being sunk drew all the strain to the bottom of the 
poles. And thus the boat was held all night against the 
wind, which at times blew fiercely. However, to prevent 
the loss of the poles should they in any way be set free, I 
had a slack, light line securely fixed to their tops. Then 



UP THE LENA, 97 

with paddles driven down on either side to keep her head 
to the wind, and one man to watch that she did not drift 
from her moorings, the rest of us stowed ourselves away 
for the night as best we could. Sleep, to be sure, refused 
to slide into our souls ; yet covering ourselves with the 
weather-cloths, some pieces of canvas, and the mackintosh 
that we had used to spread inside the tent while on the 
march, we composed ourselves for rest. But it was bit- 
terly cold, and what with the rain, sleet, and snow, our 
sufferings were intense. Those of us not already frozen 
soon became frost-bitten, and we who were frozen before 
were now rendered almost helpless by the fresh freezing 
of our limbs, which swelled, and stretched the moccasins 
to bursting. 

At dawn the storm had abated and the river was tran- 
quil ; but the scene that presented itself to our gaze was 
one of depressing desolation. Every shivering soul in 
the company showed plainly the anguish he had endured 
the night before ; the ropes were frozen and covered with 
rime, and the snow-fall of several inches was spread over 
the boat and every object in it. The hills and mud flats, 
which a few hours earlier were green and black on the 
horizon, now glistened in their wintry coat of whiteness; 
and so altered was the appearance of the surrounding 
country that we could barely distinguish our landmarks 
of the previous day. It seemed, however, a simple mat- 
ter to return as we had come. I had worked by compass 
to the southeast, and should find no trouble in working 
back to the northwest. But there was such a bewilder- 
ing variety of opinion that I permitted every one to venti- 
late himself on the matter until nearly noon, when, the 
bank looking very familiar, I concluded to land and 
make our meal of tea and fish. Presently we had a fire 
blazing warmly, and while some prepared dinner, others 
who had argued most vehemently regarding our location 
explored along the bank, and no sooner rounded the point 



98 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

of land under which we had camped than the huts of 
Borkhia arose before them in plain sight. Everything 
deserving the name of game had long since left the re- 
gions round about us, and with the coming of the snow 
and freezing of the ponds, the few dilatory ducks and 
geese that had abided the maturing of their young were 
now winging their southerly flight in straggling pairs or 
skeleton flocks. Only the gull and other carrion birds 
hovered in sight, or, floating aloft, looked down and 
gloated on our misery. Our meal eaten we pushed on, 
and towards evening, as we approached the bluff, discerned 
with pleasure four natives running to meet us. They 
aided us in hauling the boat upon the beach, clear of the 
young ice which was fringing the shore, and I noticed 
our first three acquaintances were now joined by an old 
man whom they pushed forward as their chief, calling 
him " Starosti" "Commanda" " Ta Ta" etc., etc., and 
who stood with cap in hand saying "Drastie, drastie." 

My own, and the limbs of Leach, Manson, and Lauter- 
bach, were so badly frozen that we were forced to crawl 
on our hands and knees ; Bartlett, Cole, Newcomb, and 
others, though severely attacked, were not disabled ; 
while Danenhower and Iniguin were the least affected 
of all. The natives assisted us to the hut, where they had 
a cheerful fire, and a supply of fish and venison ; and ob- 
serving in the hands of the men several gulls which New- 
comb had shot, intimated that such were not fit to eat, and 
gave us fish instead. Yet I cannot understand why they 
object to eating gulls when they have so often to resort 
to food infinitely more disgusting. I remember that one 
of the Jeannette cabin mess asserted that young gulls 
were sold in the markets of a great seaport town of the 
United States, and esteemed a great delicacy by the elite 
of that place ; and though I am willing to give my per- 
sonal assurance that many things are more unpalatable, 
as we all had cause to know before leaving the Delta, 



UP THE LENA. 99 

still I do not propose to eat a gull or any other carrion 
bird when better food is at hand. 

I supplemented our supper with an extra kettle of tea, 
of which the natives were very fond, and then set about 
informing the old man of our utter poverty and our great 
desire to be shown the way to Belun, or some other settle- 
ment. He grasped the situation, and signified that after 
a sleep we would all proceed to a village. I tried to 
persuade him to conduct us to Belun, but he joined the 
younger men in assuring me that it was impossible, owing 
to our want of food and clothing, and the rapid formation 
of ice in the river. I was determined, now that I had laid 
hands on the natives a second time, not to loosen my grip 
under any condition ; and, indeed, had so announced my 
intention to the company after our ineffectual attempt to 
find a passage up the river; saying then that I would re- 
turn and make prisoners of the natives, seizing their ca- 
noes and equipment and compelling them to pilot us for- 
ward. Happily it was unnecessary to enforce obedience, 
for after breakfast, the following morning, we set forth 
on our journey. Before shoving off it was important 
that the old man, Vasilli Kool Gar, be instructed to 
avoid the shallows, since our boat, being larger, drew 
much more water than the canoes. Bartlett explained 
the matter by catching him by the shoulders and point- 
ing out to him the water-line of the boat and then that 
of the canoes. Vasilli seemed to understand, and, as a 
proof that he did, he cut a mark with a knife on his dou- 
ble-bladed paddle, after measuring with it the distance 
from the ground to the indicated water-line on the whale- 
boat. This seemed a triumph of intelligence, and we 
thenceforth had full faith in our new pilot. I now advo- 
cated again that we go to Belun, but met with the same 
positive refusal. Ice, cold, starvation, and death, the na- 
tives said, would surely overtake us ; and they drew in 
the snow diagrams of the course of the river, with the lo- 



100 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

cation of the villages at which we would have a halt, 
winding up their argument by feigning a tragic death 
scene. So with the promise on the part of Vasilli that 
we would eventually reach Belun, we at last started. 

For a while Vasilli ran along the coast in the direction 
I had traversed the day before, continuing to the south- 
east as long as the whale-boat would float. Two of the 
young natives were stationed out ahead on either bow 
of the old man's canoe, finding the channel, and thus 
they piloted us over the same flats we had crossed before. 
But the water in time becoming more shallow and the 
shoals more numerous, Vasilli abandoned the course he 
was pursuing and steered off to the eastward, occasion- 
ally as high as the northeast. Towards evening he sent 
the other canoes ahead, and remained behind encourag- 
ing us to advance ; growling, muttering, and entreating, 
yet always good-humoredly, while he laughed with us at 
our vain attempts to understand the constant chattering 
and gibbering kept up between us. We had been pulling 
hard against a strong current for several hours, and it 
really looked as though we would never round a long 
sand-spit which stood in our way, when suddenly a bright 
light shot upward from the beach, a mile or so in front of 
us. The other natives had forged ahead and built the 
first guiding fire that had greeted our eyes since we left 
Unalaska. It infused fresh vigor into the crew, and soon 
we were hauling out our boat on a bleak, snowy beach, 
back of which arose a lofty tundra bank full of fissures 
and cuts. 

I erected the two tents for our accommodation, giv- 
ing the natives the boat sail to set up as a shelter, and 
directly the evening was over we all lay down to rest. 
The snow-fall of the past few days had made a soft bed 
for us, save where the driftwood that littered the beach 
pushed through and rendered it lumpy. Our sleeping- 
bags, too, from frequent soakings, were denuded of their 



UP THE LENA. 101 

hair, full of holes, frozen hard, and so shriveled up as to 
be almost useless. Still was our thankfulness in itself 
au all-sufficient comfort ; thankfulness for the friendly 
care and guidance of the natives. I had hidden away 
our small residue (about twenty pounds) of pemmican, 
and persuaded the natives that we were entirely out of 
provisions, in order to urge them forward ; and, at the 
same time, I induced them to set their nets and catch 
some fish, while I secretly issued a small ration of pem- 
mican in the tents. Old Vasilli overhauled our pots and 
kettles, but finding no food, supplied us from his canoe- 
box with a few little fish, of which we made a watery 
stew, long drawn out. 

It was very cold, and the wind that arose when the 
sun went down blew half a gale. We kept a great fire 
going most of the night in safe proximity to the tents, 
but shivered, nevertheless, and shook and froze, and 
morning found us more unfitted than ever to cope with 
our undiminished difficulties. A pint of hot fish soup 
and a quarter of a pound of pemmican to each man (the 
natives being included in this meal) composed, with the 
tea, our breakfast ; and the tents, covered with ice and 
snow and frozen like boards, having been rolled up after 
a manner and stowed in the boat, we once more pushed 
off. Clear of the shoal water of the large bay, we were 
now conducted through the serpentine windings of the 
river out to sea, around an island to the north of Bukoff- 
ski Cape and into the river again, accomplishing a good 
day's journey, and, as darkness fell upon us, we arrived 
at two deserted huts on the north side of the eastern dis- 
charge of the main branch of the Lena ; which I subse- 
quently visited twice during my second search for De 
Long. One of the huts was in a much better state of 
preservation than the other, but both together could not 
shelter us all ; so, from preference, some of the men and 
natives set up a tent for their accommodation. The na- 



102 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

tives caught two or three small fish, to which Vasilli gin- 
gerly added several from the box in his boat. Newcomb 
during the day had shot a pair of ducks, and these I 
magnanimously presented to Vasilli, telling him that 
though we had nothing else to eat, we yet felt called upon 
to tender our little all to him, on whom devolved the 
responsibility of feeding and speedily bringing us to a 
place of safety. My magnanimity was not without its 
effect. He peered into our kettle and box, and finding 
them empty wished to return the ducks, and proffered 
us the last two fish in his canoe, assuring me that his 
larder was now as vacant as ours. 

Several of the party were so enfeebled by the ad- 
ditional freezing of their feet and legs that the boat was 
not hauled entirely out, as heretofore, but the gear was 
heaped upon the beach, beyond the reach of the water. 
The huts, according to custom, were built on the bluff 
above the river, and in our frozen condition it was no 
mean task for us to struggle up this height. I had alto- 
gether lost control of my legs, and so in ascending the 
steep bank leaned on the shoulders of old Vasilli and 
Karranie, who afterwards assisted Leach and Lauterbach 
in the same manner. Our supper of fish soup was pre- 
pared and served in the usual way ; Bartlett dividing 
the food as equally as possible into the pans, which were 
placed on the ground, each man seizing his pan, and Bart- 
lett and I appropriating the last two. 

Meanwhile Vasilli had cut up his ducks, using a great 
deal of water in cooking them, and after we had supped 
he generously gave a portion of them, together with 
some soup, to my party. Many, many times afterward 
have I seen Vasilli relate to others, and go through the 
pantomime of my presenting him with the ducks, when 
we were almost dead from hunger, cold, and exhaustion. 
The artifice worked well, and I felt the good effects of it 
all through my first terrible journey in search of De 



UP THE LENA. 103 

Long ; and even to the time when, leaving the Lena 
Delta, I distributed my few remaining fish and small 
stores among Vasilli and his neighbors. 

Crawling into the huts at night, we invariably removed 
our foot gear in order to ease our swollen, blistered, and 
bleeding legs and feet. On this particular night, after I 
had withdrawn my moccasins, all the natives, one after 
another, examined my legs, and, pressing their fingers 
into the tumid and spongy flesh, watched anxiously to 
see if the indentations would disappear ; and, when 
they had remained a considerable while, the natives, 
shaking their heads, consulted together with all the grav- 
ity of medical doctors, and apparently reached the con- 
clusion, that, though I was in a very bad condition in- 
deed, yet under the circumstances they could do nothing 
for me. What worried me most, however, was the fear 
that scurvy was about to break out among us. From my 
knowledge of this frightful disease, it seemed too anom- 
alous that we, having endured by far the greatest hard- 
ships of any Arctic expedition on record, should be ex- 
empt from its fatal clutches. We had passed unscathed 
(for Alexia's case was a mere suspicion) the crucial test 
of a long march in wet clothing, under a discipline of 
severest toil and lowest diet, such as the whalemen, 
hunting from the floe - edges at a distance from their 
ships, sink under and perish. All this and more our gal- 
lant fellows had undergone ; but now, though frost-bite 
could account for the sores, blisters, and curling up of toe 
and finger nails, yet I could attribute the dead swelling 
of the limbs to nothing else than scurvy ; which seemed 
also responsible for the soreness of gums that Danen- 
hower and Newcomb complained of. And yet time has 
satisfied me that my fears were groundless, notwith- 
standing the long interval through which we had lived 
without antiscorbutics of any kind. 

Next day we were early out and on our way again, 



104 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

now rowing and now sailing, or both, when practicable, 
to lessen the labor of the crew. Our pilots would occa- 
sionally lead us into difficulty by forgetting that their 
canoes drew only three inches of water and the whale- 
boat twenty-six. Still they were mindful of our weak- 
ness and misery, making as many short cuts as possible ; 
and towards noon we found ourselves on the bosom of a 
broad, deep stream, speeding merrily along under oars 
and sail. Vasilli had dispatched a couple of his young 
men ahead, and was holding on to the side of our boat, 
signing to me that his arms were so tired he could pad- 
dle no farther. Yet he appeared desirous of detaining 
us pending the reconnaissance and return of the canoes, 
insisting that we rest the oars, and, though the wind 
was fair, lower the sail. Presently there appeared in the 
distance a village of considerable size; but no smoke 
arose from the chimneys, and as we drew near the bank 
our hearts sickened to find no welcome from man or 
beast. It was a mystery to us at first ; our stealthy 
approach to the place, and its oppressive solitude and 
silence. I even suspected that the natives had gone on 
in advance and hurried the people away; but, upon 
closer inspection, I learned that the island, for such it 
was, had been deserted for months. Then it dawned on 
me that this was a winter village, whose inhabitants had 
not yet returned, and that Vasilli had forwarded the two 
young men to establish this fact, intending to tarry there 
if the natives had arrived, and if they had not, to jour- 
ney on to the southward to another village which he 
knew to be inhabited. But as we had run by the turn 
in the river, Vasilli concluded to stop at Arii, the aban- 
doned settlement ; so we landed and occupied one of the 
huts. It was in good order, and the window places were 
closed against the weather by slabs of wood. We rum- 
maged among the huts and store-houses, but found abso- 
lutely nothing to eat ; Newcomb was more successful 



UP THE LENA. 105 

with his gun, shooting several ptarmigan, of which we 
made soup. Vasilli, having sent one of the natives to 
the neighboring village, bared his arm and showed where 
it had been pierced by a bullet or spear near the biceps. 
It was shriveled and nigh powerless, and he indicated 
that he could go no farther, but had sent for a native 
who would pilot us on. 

We built a fire and made hot tea, and during the af- 
ternoon discerned a canoe and a native pull-away boat 
approaching us. The latter resembled a whale-boat in 
shape, being sharp at both ends, but having a much flat- 
ter bottom. The planks, split about one and a quarter 
inches thick, ten inches wide, and long enough to reach 
from end to end, were clinker-built, and fastened through 
with wooden pegs three -eighths of an inch in diameter. 
The frames, of birch or spruce, were about three feet 
apart, and the stem and stern-pieces connecting with the 
keel, which was chiefly inside, were huge sticks of tim- 
ber, with rabbets cut in so as to make a flush finish at 
both ends. The work was roughly, though strongly, 
done ; and a boat of this kind, from six to eight feet 
beam and from twenty-five to thirty feet long, will prob- 
ably weigh about three times as much as a whale-boat of 
the same general dimensions, even though it is without 
an iron or copper fastening. The seams are caulked on 
the outside with reindeer moss and the fine rootlets of 
the peat moss, dug out of the tundra beds and washed 
clear of earth. 

Our friend Karranie was in the canoe, and the row- 
boat contained two men and two women, three of them 
rowing while the elder of the men steered. This, Vasilli 
made me understand, was the head man of the village, 
and a worse-looking old pirate I never saw. He was 
short and thick-set, and his eyes, arched over with beet- 
ling brows, glittered far back in his head like two little 
balls of fire. His hair was cut close, and a like fate, it 



106 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

appeared, had befallen his ears, from the bottom of one 
to the other of which nearly extended his long, firmly-set 
lips, which opened above a great square jaw. The body 
of a giant resting on the legs of a dwarf, — and this was 
Spiridon. The two women who accompanied him — one 
of whom was Mrs. Spiridon, and the other his sister — 
had each lost her right eye ; and, though meeker in be- 
havior than their husband and brother, were quite as ras- 
cally in looks. The young man was a boisterous, devil- 
may-care youth, all rags and tatters, a savage counter- 
part of the numerous ne'er-do-well young man of our 
large cities, who is content to laugh and live at his 
friends' expense. 

Spiridon, with the women, retired at once to his house, 
while Capiocan, the youth, was shortly fraternizing with 
the sailors. Vasilli came in to tell me that the starosti 
had arrived ; so, in company with him and Mr. Dan- 
enhower, I called upon the great little man. He was 
very stolid and stupid, and would not exert himself to 
talk or be at all agreeable. A large pot of tea, which I 
ordered to be made in our hut, was carried over, and this 
we drank from earthenware cups furnished by the women. 
Spiridon then informed me that Capiocan, who was his 
protege and an excellent pilot, would conduct us to the 
next inhabited village. Vasilli here explained to the 
starosti that we had nothing to eat ; so before we started 
he handed me a boned goose, inside of which were stuffed 
four other geese. Soon we had gathered our few effects 
together and were journeying on rejoicing ; our good 
friend Vasilli, hood in hand, bowing and wishing us fare- 
well from the beach. Capiocan and Karranie embarked 
with us, and Feodor paddled along in his canoe, at times 
in tow of the whale-boat. 

At first there was no difference of opinion between the 
natives in regard to the course we should pursue ; but 
presently we came to a place where each one indicated a 



UP THE LENA. 107 

different course, and as Capiocan was our authorized 
pilot, I went in the direction pointed out by him, and 
soon brought up in water too shallow to float the boat. 
This was by no means a strange event in our experience, 
for it seemed as though the natives would never under- 
stand that the whale-boat drew two feet of water more 
than a canoe. We had run into this cut with a fair 
wind, and were forced to struggle out of it against wind 
and tide. The natives had assured me that we would 
reach the inhabited village that night, but we were de- 
layed so often in navigating the crooked and shoaly 
stream that it became necessary to camp again, which we 
did in a couple of old huts on the river bank. 

I boiled our boned geese, and they were far too 
" gamy " to titillate the palate of the most advanced 
gourmand beyond the purlieus of the Arctic regions ; 
where putrid meat is in general demand, not so much, 
perhaps, from choice as from necessity ; for, though there 
is a perennial abundance of ice, yet during the summer 
months the sun is scorching hot, and, unless the natives 
build ice-houses, the game they kill in July and August 
will spoil as readily at the Lena mouth as at New York. 
The store-houses and huts are built on the high banks of 
the river to escape as much as possible the floods which 
at times inundate the whole of the Delta, so that the cus- 
tomary Siberian ice-cellar is here impracticable. Then, 
again, it is an undertaking of considerable magnitude for 
these people to excavate a cellar with the tools they have 
at command, which consist alone of a wooden spade 
tipped with iron, — the tip of an inch and a quarter be- 
ing split so as to fit on both sides, and held in place by 
iron hooks, which are driven through the spade and 
turned up on the back. The iron fitting is sold by the 
traders, and the spade is soon fashioned out of a straight 
piece of tough spruce. It is a tool in use by all the na- 
tives, forming a part of their winter kit to clear away 



108 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the snow from their fox-traps. But the ground is solidly- 
frozen to an average depth of forty-seven feet in the dis- 
trict of Yakutsk ; and when a cellar is to be dug a fire 
is first built, thawing out a few inches of earth, which 
is then removed, and the excavation so continues on 
through a succession of fires until a proper depth has 
been reached, when the sides are retained with small 
round timber, which the next winter freezes in as firm 
as a stone wall, and so gives the finishing touches to a 
cellar of perpetual gelidity. 

And this is a long digression, considering that I merely 
wished to say that our ancient and odoriferous geese had 
not been kept in an ice-cellar ; but as it was a long time 
since we had obliterated a good, honest meal, and as it 
might yet be longer before another opportunity pre- 
sented itself, we absorbed them and turned in. Next 
morning it was astonishing how well every one felt after 
the night's rest. To be sure, those of us who were still 
frozen remained so, and hobbled painfully along ; but 
when sitting in the boat we were all vigorous and strong 
in mind, and, above the hips, in body. The suffering in 
feet and legs was borne without a murmur until the ex- 
piration of every second hour, when it became necessary 
to shift the relief at the oars. Then, indeed, the injured 
ones anathematized with a vengeance, nor were the re- 
torts always couched in conciliatory or loving terms. Yet 
on the whole, every one was considerate of the others' 
comfort, and there was very little ill-feeling displayed be- 
yond these momentary and pardonable outbursts of tem- 
per ; and, if the crowded condition of the boat be remem- 
bered, — two men sitting on each thwart, and the limbs 
of nearly all as sensitively painful as though scalded from 
knees to toes, — it need cause no wonder that at every 
movement of the boat a shriek of agony should burst from 
some member of the company. Towards noon we turned 
a long sand-spit in the river, and came into view of a low 



UP THE LENA. 109 

island, on which was pitched a village of probably a dozen 
balogans, palatkas, and store - houses, and one spireless 
church. Feodor, in haste to herald our coming, shot 
ahead, and under the guidance of our two pilots we ran 
quickly after, scanning the village with eager eyes and 
hearts. Soon we saw the smoke curling above the huts, 
and then the crew found voice, — 

" I see a man ! " "I see two men ! " " Look at the 
dogs ! " " Hurrah ! There 's a woman ! " " No, women I " 
" Look at the young ones !" etc., until finally, as we drew 
near to the island and the water shoaled, two or three 
canoes put off from the shore, in one of which was a 
regular red-headed Russian. We all noticed him at once, 
and sang out together, " There 's a Russian ! " He was 
evidently pleased, and, bobbing his head, cried " Ruskie, 
Ruskie ! " Then we plied him with a hundred questions 
in English, French, Spanish, German, Swedish, and every 
crooked tongue of which we had a smattering; even 
descending to Iniguin's dialect, whom I told to address 
the young man in such Russian as he could command ; 
but it was a flat failure, since Iniguin doubtless addressed 
him in Asiniboine or Chinnook. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
AT JAMAVELOCH. 

Nicolai Chagra. — An Impressive Pantomime. — The " Red Fiend." 
— Over- ripe but Green Geese. — Devotions. — A Balogan de- 
scribed. 

The starosti of the village, Nicolai Chagra, pointed 
out where the deep water lay, and soon our boat was 
moored to the shore. With clear heads but weak limbs 
we all clambered out as best we could, chiefly on hands 
and knees. The whole village, to be sure, had come to 
greet us ; men, women, children, dogs, and all. On the 
beach was a number of boats, canoes, sleds, and their 
equipment; hunting and fishing gear lay around; and 
there were places for the drying and repairing of nets, 
together with flats, on the tops of which some fish were 
drying. When most of our gear had been discharged and 
the boat secured, some of the women and children took 
hold of the sled on which I was seated, watching the oper- 
ation of unloading, and dragged me off a distance of sev- 
enty-five yards to the house of Nicolai Chagra. Leach 
and Lauterbach, who were entirely disabled, followed me 
on another sled, or hobbled after on sticks. Nicolai hav- 
ing ushered us in with considerable ceremony, we made 
mutual attempts at conversation, and I endeavored to post 
him on the state of our affairs. Meanwhile the rest of the 
crew came marching into the house in a body, armed with 
pots, kettles, and sleeping-bags, very much to the conster- 
nation of Nicolai, who, flinging his arms around his wife, 
whirled her about and into the corner of the room. He 



AT JAMAVELOCH. HI 

had stationed me in the post of honor, or guest corner, 
under the icon, and, seeing his dread, I told the men to 
retire for a little while until I could explain to him who 
and what we were, and what we wanted. But presently 
they reassembled in the hut by degrees ; the natives, too, 
crowded around us, and soon we were all on terms of 
good fellowship and in the best of humor. The boiler 
was immediately put on and tea made. It was salty, but 
we relished it, the natives particularly, to whom it was a 
luxury in the summer-time when traders were scarce, and 
all food other than goose and deer meat more so. Mrs. 
Nicolai Chagra had set a kettle of fish to cooking, and 
soon we had a panful of it, boiled, indeed, without salt or 
seasoning of any kind, and yet, to us, the most delicious 
mess we had ever eaten. While the fish was getting 
ready, our host had passed around a small quantity of 
tried deer-fat. There was altogether not more than a 
couple of ounces of it, and this he broke into little bits 
and served to us like sticks of molasses candy. Some 
members of the party, carried away by their imagination, 
pronounced it the sweetest morsel they had ever tasted. 
Had there been enough of it to satisfy one man, he would 
perhaps have deemed it a jolly good feast ; but, hungry 
as I was, it seemed to me but a modicum of rancid deer 
tallow fried in a dirty pan filled with deer hair. 

I ate a piece about the size of a copper cent, nor cared 
for more ; but some of the men, I noticed, were anxious 
to have a second or third chance at the " pan o' fat." 
Throughout the entire expedition I never lost my taste 
for good things when they were available. On board of 
the Jeannette I ate mechanically — as a duty ; ate to 
keep up my vigor ; for, although ours was the best pro- 
visioned ship that ever crossed the Arctic Circle, yet so 
regular was the diet that many of us came at last to 
loathe the sight and smell of the canned food, which at 
the beginning of the cruise had been most palatable. It 



112 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

palled on us as the partridge did on the man who had 
engaged to eat one every day for a month, and I question 
if one fourth of all the food issued was consumed. 

While the dinner was preparing I undertook to tell 
Nicolai Chagra the story of our shipwreck. Yapheme 
Copalofl, the exiled Russian, was all mouth and ears, 
and seemed more intelligent than the natives. With a 
red and blue crayon pencil I pictured the American flag 
on a slip of paper, whereupon Yapheme exclaimed, 
" Hurrah Americanski ! " and then explained that he 
had been a soldier at the fortifications of Vladivostock, 
and had seen many American ships. But to make the 
Yakuts understand, I drew a vessel which Yapheme 
called a shipka, and to the natives said, bulchoi flotska 
(a large boat). Then having learned the Yakut word 
for ice, namely, boos, I explained that it had crushed 
the ship and she had sunk. Yapheme comprehended 
quite readily, but the natives were not so bright, and 
after a long confabulation between the two, I made use 
of a large piece of wood, calling it the shipka. On this 
I placed four smaller sticks, viatkas or malinhi flotskas 
(little boats), and thirty-three chips as the crew. I next 
put the table in motion to illustrate the rolling sea, which 
they called the byral (sea), and showed how the boos 
byral (sea ice) had come in on the ship. Then with a 
great agitation of the table I spilled the boats and men 
from the ship, and threw the latter, along with a 
malinki flotska, under the table, to represent how it 
had gone under the ice. All appeared to be enlightened 
by my pantomime, and the " ohs," " ahs," and sighs of 
men and women, expressed their sorrow and pity. I 
then told off eleven sticks as my crew, and put them on 
board one of the three remaining boats ; the other two 
being assigned thirteen and nineteen sticks respectively. 
Advancing all three for many days and sleeps, I next 
blew a gale of wind, and amid its roar, or poorga, and 




EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR OF EXILE HOUSES IN SIBERIA. 



AT JAMAVELOCH. 113 

the surging of the byral, rolled over two of the boats and 
dashed them under the table. But one malinki flotska 
remained, and once more telling off myself and men as 
the sticks, I finally moored our boat at Jamaveloch, the 
name of the village. 

The women seemed very much affected by the story, 
and examined our frozen limbs, shaking their heads in 
compassion, and even weeping over our miseries. After 
dinner, Nicolai gave us each a leaf of tobacco, quite a 
windfall to those who used it. I did not ; but I heard 
some of the men remark that it was the vilest stuff they 
had ever smoked, not excepting the tea leaves and coffee 
grounds they had used on the march. So now we con- 
tinued the custom of drying our tea leaves for those who 
desired to smoke them, much to the astonishment of the 
natives, who cut up about equal quantities of wood or bark 
with their tobacco. Our large pipes likewise occasioned 
them surprise, theirs being very small, and similar in 
shape to the Japanese tobacco-pipe, the bowl holding a 
ball of tobacco about the size of a large green pea. The 
smoke ended, we all lay down to a good sleep, the house 
being darkened for that purpose by placing boards against 
the inside of the ice-glazed windows. Some of us slept on 
the berth-places, others stretched themselves on the floor 
in or on their sleeping-bags, and were soon snoring peace- 
fully. We, however, whose limbs were frozen so badly, 
found no " balmy," for each beat of the heart forced the 
blood in vigorous and painful circulation through our 
throbbing flesh. At' dusk we all either awoke, or were 
awakened by the natives preparing our supper. The in- 
variable beverage of tea was handed around, and Mrs. 
Chagra, assisted by some of her female friends, put on a 
large kettle of ancient but hardy geese, which had long 
and honorably served the natives in raising numerous 
progeny of their kind. But they had been slaughtered 
during the summer, when in pin-feather, and hung in 



114 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

pairs, with their bills interlocked, across a pole out of the 
reach of dogs and foxes, and as they had neither been 
plucked nor dressed, the juices of their poor bodies nat- 
urally gathered at the extremities ; hence, ere freezing 
weather set in, the dead geese had generated another and 
more prolific family within themselves. So when such 
are heated for the purpose of cleaning, the natives are 
usually saved the trouble of opening them, for the whole 
after-part of the fowl drops out of its own accord, — 
anything but a pleasing sight to contemplate, particu- 
larly if the agony, or inside, be long drawn out. Still we 
ate of the boiled geese, and heartily. 

Before retiring for the night Nicolai Chagra prepared 
a number of small wax tapers and arranged them in front 
of the icons. I speak in the plural, for he had a row 
of them facing the south, placed on a little shelf in the 
northwest corner of the house. They were brass images, 
ranging in size from one to four and a half inches square ; 
some being merely heads of particular saints, others, 
groups of three or more figures, crucifixes, medals, plain 
crosses, etc., such as the Greek priests sell or trade to the 
Yakuts. The tapers lighted, their ends having been 
melted and so stuck on the shelf, all the natives, old 
and young, with the women in the background, fell into 
line and went through their devotions, apparently with 
some extras in honor of our safety. The service con- 
sisted in multiform genuflections, bowings and crossings, 
with long pauses between, during which they fixed their 
eyes on the ground as though in rapt meditation, and at 
times they prostrated themselves, kissing the floor, and 
touching their foreheads; but they uttered no audible 
prayer. 

When it was over, they all fell back as though to give 
us a chance, and Chagra, bowing towards me, waved 
with his hand an invitation to myself and people to fol- 
low them in the servifce. I thought he looked a little 



AT JAMAVELOCH. 115 

disappointed at our not accepting, and so, to avoid giving 
offense, requested the crew to go through the motions. 
Jack Cole, whose honest good spirits were always redun- 
dant, vociferated at the top of his voice, much as though 
he were calling a watch to duty, — 

" Gome, fellows, all o' ye, and say yer prayers ! " 

Whereupon, followed by many of the men, he took 
the lead in the performance of an entirely original cere- 
mony. Nicolai then extinguished the tapers, and we all 
turned in ; some of us, as before, on berths arranged 
around the room, and the rest using the floor as a com- 
mon bed with the natives, inclusive of our pilots and the 
Russian exile, Yapheme Copaloff, who had apparently at- 
tached himself, unasked, to my party, as guide, counselor, 
and friend. It was evident that he regarded himself as 
quite the superior of the natives, although dependent 
upon them, at times, for food, shelter, and clothing ; yet, 
as the white man, American or European, usually does, 
he had assumed a lofty air, and the natives were forced to 
bow to it. 

A description of Chagra's hut, the best in the village 
of Jamaveloch, will be a fair example of the finest of 
that class of permanent dwellings, commonly known as 
balogans or yaurtas, on the Lena Delta, and throughout 
the districts of Yakutsk and Verkeransk. 

The main or inhabited portion of the building is rec- 
tangular in shape, and built of hewn timber, the base di- 
mensions being about twenty-four by sixteen feet. The 
timber is placed on end in the earth without sills, all 
four sides leaning inward about ten degrees out of the 
perpendicular ; or when the height of the hut inside is, 
say, eight feet in the clear, a plumb line dropped from 
the top would fall about two feet from the side of the hut 
near the floor. The timber is neatly hewn and squared 
down to seven inches in thickness, the width varying 
from seven to seventeen inches, and placed together as 



116 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

tight as possible, the joints appearing remarkably close 
indeed, when the rude implements of the natives are 
considered. These consist alone of a " pod-bit ; " a very 
rank-angled chopping axe with a handle not more than 
twenty inches long; and a two-handled drawing-knife 
curved to a radius of about three inches, — the saw being 
a tool unknown to them. 

Horizontal sills or plates are laid on top of the inclined 
sides of the hut, and on these in turn a girder, seven in- 
ches thick and twelve inches wide, is placed transversely 
of the structure, and midway between the front and 
rear. A stanchion resting on a block in the centre of the 
floor runs up through the hut and supports the girder, 
and for the matter of that, the roof too, which is formed 
of hewn timber such as the sides are built of. These 
rest on the front and rear plates, or stringers, abutting 
together on the central girder, and so giving a slight 
pitch to the roof ; and the seams in the whole structure 
are caulked with reindeer moss. A low door, three feet 
high by two feet wide, is cut in one end, and the sill raised 
about two feet above the ground, to keep out the cold air. 
On each side are cut two windows eighteen inches square, 
and occasionally one window of similar size is cut in the 
rear. The chimney and fire-place are located in a direct 
line midway between the centres of the roof-ridge and 
door, facing the rear. The fire-place is made of a box 
sixteen or twenty inches high and four feet square, back 
of which is the chimney, woven of wattles and small 
round timber, its projection being supported by two knee- 
pieces like those used in boat building. These also an- 
swer as supports for a small mantel-shelf and the upper 
end of a rude wooden crane, by means of which the na- 
tives swing their large kettles over the fire. The entire 
chimney and fire-place are coated with a fine sedimentary 
clay, dug from the pond bottoms, and gradually baked 
until thoroughly hardened. The box, which is filled 



AT JAMAVELOCH. 117 

with earth, may either be pinned together, or, as is often 
the case, the four corners may be held in place by eight 
stout stakes driven well into the ground. 

All well-built huts are floored with slabs, split with 
wooden wedges. The interior arrangements are as fol- 
lows : A low u transom " or bench, raised about eighteen 
inches above the floor, runs around three sides of the 
room, but not around that in which the door is cut. It 
is about two and a half feet wide, used as a bench dur- 
ing the day and converted into sleeping berths at night ; 
for it is divided off by partitions, usually three or four 
feet high, though now and then reaching to the ceiling. 
At the end opposite the door are two berths, and along 
either side there are three, making eight berths in all, 
and when they are double or intended for the accommo- 
dation of two sleepers, a small ledge-piece, which swings 
out on hinges made of thongs and is supported by several 
small sticks, can be readily adjusted at night and let 
down during the day. The location of the huts is not 
determined by any rule of compass or sun, but they are 
here and there situated with their backs to the prevailing 
wind ; although this caution is by no means generally 
observed, and I noticed no regularity in the facing of huts 
in any village, those set across the wind appearing as 
stable as the others. The disposition of berths, however, 
I found the same in all parts of the Delta and north- 
eastern Siberia. As viewed from the door, the rear right 
hand corner is invariably occupied by the host and his 
wife ; the one opposite in the left hand corner is always 
set apart as the guest chamber, and over it is the shelf 
of gods or icons. The three berths ranging along the 
right hand side of the hut are devoted to the use of 
the immediate family, the married sons and their wives 
being next or near to their parents according to age or 
other condition. On the left, the near relatives start in 
at the berth below the guest chamber, commencing with 



118 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the senior aunt or uncle, and terminating at the door 
with the stranger or dependent. In all huts there are 
little spaces of four or five feet between the last berths 
on either side and the front end. On the right this 
space is where the pots, kettles, and other culinary uten- 
sils are kept ; on the left a small supply of dry wood is 
stored for kindling and bad weather. Extending from 
side to side of the hut, and suspended by thongs in 
front of the fire-place, is a light trestle-work, made of 
poles and slabs, on which the frozen food is placed to 
thaw, and likewise the fish intended for the dogs. For 
the latter is a practice always observed when possible; 
the dogs, in cold or bad weather, being furnished with 
hot food. Narrow shelves fitted over the berths to sup- 
port small ornaments ; a ditty box for the reception of 
valuables, such as needles and thread ; a tea-cup or other 
fancy article, and several small, rudely constructed tables, 
compose the furniture of the hut. Feather pillows are 
quite common among the natives, and their bed-clothing 
is of skin, the mattress being made of two, three, or as 
many reindeer skins as the prosperity of the house will 
permit. In almost every inhabited hut I saw one or 
more old person, male or female, who occupied a corner 
near the door ; a sort of " granny," generally blind, al- 
ways miserable, poor, ragged, and dirty — living on the 
few scraps of food to be found in the refuse of the house- 
hold. I never could learn whether this personage was 
a parent of my host or hostess, who would only observe 
that he or she was one of the old and poor. At any rate 
these aged pensioners of either sex are kept constantly 
employed, whether blind or not, manufacturing and re- 
pairing the horse-hair nets. Blindness, I may say, is a 
disease peculiar to the people of this region. Dr. Ca- 
pello, surgeon-general of the district under the command 
of General Tschernaieff, informed me that forty per cent. 
of all the natives north of Yakutsk are totally blind, and 



AT JAMAVELOCH. 119 

sixty per cent, are partially so, or have lost one eye., and 
I cannot remember having visited any hut north of Ya- 
kutsk wherein one or more of the occupants was not af- 
flicted with some affection of the eye. Syphilis prevails 
to an awful extent among them ; and by their mode of 
washing, which consists in filling their mouths with 
water, spurting it into the hollow of their hands, and then 
rubbing their faces, they manage to rub into their eyes 
the virus from their diseased mouths. The glare of the 
snow, too, their filthy habits, and the smoky atmosphere 
of the huts, all give rise to or aggravate this terrible af- 
fliction. 

When the wooden structure is finished, a row of up- 
right timber, three or four feet high, is planted around, 
and about two feet, from it. The intermediate space is 
filled in with earth during summer and trampled down 
with the feet ; and finally a layer of soil and tundra sods, 
a foot thick, is raised up to and on top of the hut, being 
well packed and tramped. The balogan is now complete ; 
in shape, a frustrum of a pyramid of rectangular base, 
and, in external appearance, an earth mound or butte, 
from which, indeed, it can only be distinguished at a great 
distance by the presence of smoke. An outer apart- 
ment is next added to the front of the main building, 
generally of the same width, but not so high, and only 
about half as long or as substantially built. At right 
angles to it is a still smaller and frailer structure, fully 
strong enough, however, to withstand the gales, and sup- 
port the snow, which during the winter months assail and 
envelop it. A peculiarity of this attachment is, that it 
is invariably located on the right hand side of the outer 
building as one enters it. 

These three apartments are permanent and constitute 
the habitation proper, but, as winter approaches, a light, 
temporary building of poles is erected, and covered with 
snow. It is taken down when spring opens, and stowed 



120 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

away for the next season. I have seen another similar 
structure intended as a winter lodge for the dogs, or 
bitches with pups, and in which they were fed from a 
log trough. These two are only built when the ground 
is covered with snow, which is heaped upon them with 
wooden shovels, and, later on, the natural snow-fall fills 
in every crevice. The first outer apartment is used as 
a general store-room. In it all the fur clothing, fishing 
gear, dog harness and sledge equipment are kept; and 
here the visitor deposits his outer garments. It also acts 
as a weather porch to the main dwelling, and, at times, 
the fish or salted fish-bellies, which are traded to the 
Russians, are stored therein. The smaller attachment to 
the right, entered through a swinging door, is used as a 
provision store-room, in which the winter food supply of 
venison, fish, or geese, and all furs intended for trade, are 
kept. No light is admitted into these outer buildings, 
unless, perhaps, it be through a sky-light of crystal-like 
ice in the roof, the object being to keep them always 
cool. The contrary is, of course, the case in the main or 
living apartment, where the windows are glazed with 
translucent ice, abundantly collected in the fall and re- 
served for winter use. Considerable light shines through, 
though, to be sure, outside objects are not visible ; but 
the heat on the inside during the day gradually destroys 
the windows, which are scraped clean every morning 
with a little iron instrument made for the purpose. For 
at night, when the fire is permitted to die out, a coating of 
rime collects on the inner surface of the ice - pane, pro- 
duced by the exhalations of the sleepers, — a board always 
being placed on top of the chimney to prevent the escape 
of heat ; and I have seen forty persons sleep in a hut 
whose dimensions were sixteen by twenty-four feet, and 
seven feet in height. The glazing operation is readily 
accomplished. When the fresh-water ponds have frozen 
to a depth of six inches, blocks of ice are cut out and car- 



AT JAMAVELOCH. 121 

ried to the house-tops, out of the way of the dogs. So 
that, now a window requires glazing, the old melted pane 
is knocked out from the inside, and a fresh cake of ice, 
chopped to the correct size, instantly inserted ; the chinks 
being " puttied " in, as it were, on the outside with wet 
snow, taken from a ready kettle or boiler, and, as this 
freezes immediately, a "pane of ice" eighteen inches 
square and six inches thick has thus been set in a few 
minutes. Before going to bed, boards, fitted for the pur- 
pose, are stood in the window places to protect the ice 
against the heat of the hut ; and it is interesting to watch 
the gradual destruction of the panes by the currents of 
warm air, governed by the location of the fire-place, the 
depth of window recess, and the partition of berths. 
Slowly they melt outward, until, finally, the blessed day 
appears, and with it the necessity for more ice. 

Such is a general description of the residence of Nico- 
lai Chagra, and, with slight modifications, of the hut in 
which myself and party spent the thirty days following 
our sudden return to Jamaveloch. 

And now, to revert. We awoke the next morning 
(September 28th) greatly refreshed by our night's rest, 
and, after an enlivening application of cold water to our 
heads and faces, breakfasted on boiled fish and the ever- 
present tea. The day was stormy, but I made Nicolai 
understand that we must proceed at once to Belun. He 
expostulated vehemently, saying that the poorga, car, 
and boos (wind, snow, and ice) would surely cause us to 
perish. Hobbling outside, I took a look at the weather. 
It was blowing briskly, and the heavy, driving clouds 
portended a gale of snow. So there was nothing to be 
done but await a lull, and it came sooner than I expected. 
At ten o'clock the sun shone through the dark masses of 
vapor, the wind sank to a gentle breeze, and presently I 
had hustled Nicolai Chagra and our two pilots into their 
canoes, — Yapheme, " The Red Fiend," accompanying us 



122 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

in the whale-boat. Nicolai had furnished me with sixty- 
fish as provisions, besides stowing a small piece of venison 
in his own canoe, but as he told me it would require fif- 
teen sleeps to make the journey to Belun, I replied that 
the supply of fish was not sufficient. He pointed to the 
nets in the three canoes, signifying that fish would be 
caught as we progressed, and I was satisfied, remember- 
ing old Vasilli's faithful catches. Before starting I 
lightened the whale-boat as much as possible ; present- 
ing to Nicolai one of the tents and poles ; an empty al- 
cohol keg (having poured that precious fluid into the 
India-rubber bottles that we had originally filled with 
water and lime-juice) ; our large axe, and some other ar- 
ticles. At last, when the natives had kissed each other 
good-by after an unusual amount of "hoodooing" before 
their fetiches, and our cripples were limping to the river 
and into the boat, Leach, whose feet were shockingly- 
frozen, begged to be left behind, saying that he would 
rather stay at Jamaveloch than risk the chances ahead. 
He and Lauterbach had lost all spirit ; but it was at 
Leach's rapid and sudden change from cheerfulness to 
despondency that I was more astonished. Of course, I 
would not listen to his entreaties ; so, very reluctantly, 
he embarked with the rest. 



CHAPTER IX. 

SIBERIAN LIFE. 

Balked again. — The "Balogan Americanski." — A Row with the 
Starosti. — Catching Fish. — Deer and Geese Hunting. 

Followed by the hearty well-wishes of the villagers 
and the tearful remonstrances of Mrs. Nicolai Chagra, we 
set out upon the river under oars or sail, as best we 
could, with the canoes leading the way. Shortly after 
starting we came up with young ice running in compact 
streams; and the wind increased until the boat was al- 
most unmanageable. Our pilots had changed their course 
in order to round a point of land, and so gave us a dead 
pull to windward, which, in our lamed condition, was no 
child's play. The boat was loaded down to its utmost 
capacity, and grounded repeatedly on the shoals, making 
several narrow escapes from capsizing, while the seas 
rolled over us. Presently the natives became frightened 
at the surrounding ice, and seeing how fast we were bail- 
ing and the utter impossibility of our gaining any head- 
way, motioned me to turn back, they having already 
cleared the shoals into deep water and started on their 
journey home. However anxious I was to reach Belun, 
it was now imperative that I be cautious in my actions 
and not risk the lives of those intrusted to my care, for, 
should the river freeze us in between Jamaveloch and 
Belun, the probabilities were that a majority would per- 
ish from cold and starvation, since but two or three in 
the party could walk, and even their powers of endur- 
ance were very much reduced. Besides this, and the al- 



124 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

most insurmountable difficulties of navigation, how could 
I proceed forward without the natives ? 

So, back we turned, and in less than an hour were 
again at the village. The inhabitants were out to greet 
us, and, when the lame had scrambled up the steep bank 
and the boat had been discharged, the natives urged me 
to haul it out on land. This I, at first, refused to do, 
still hoping to make the passage to Belun in the boat, 
and fearing that by careless handling they might further 
damage it, for it was already in a sorry condition, leaky 
and rickety. Still, gathering from their vigorous talk 
and pantomime that they feared the wind and ice would 
carry it out to sea, I finally consented, and the sequel 
proved the soundness of their advice. So I witnessed 
the operation, sitting with Leach and Lauterbach, be- 
cause of our infirmity, on dog-sleds, and when it was 
over we were all conducted to the hut of one Gabrillo 
Passhin, a deer-hunter, pending the preparation of our 
new quarters, — a vacant hut which was put in order for 
our reception, and into which we shortly moved. And 
it was while storing our boat gear and equipment of all 
kinds in the outer apartment that, very much .to my cha- 
grin, I found that the bag containing the sixty fish for 
our journey had been captured by Nicolai Chagra. 

And now for the present we were dependent for food 
upon the generosity of the natives. Our hut, though 
airy and the chimney smoky, was still, withal, in a fair 
condition ; and I portioned off the space as equally as 
possible, making such regulations for the government of 
the men as seemed to me indispensable to their health 
and comfort. Of the seven double berths in the hut, five 
were each occupied by two men ; Danenhower and my- 
self sleeping singly in the remaining pair, for by the ad- 
dition of the " Red Fiend " my party now numbered 
twelve. I divided the men into two daily reliefs for car- 
rying wood and water, or ice, of which there was an 



SIBERIAN LIFE. 125 

abundance on the island or along its shores. It was out 
of the question for Leach to perform any duty, and I 
also excused Messrs. Danenhower and Newcomb, since 
there was little or nothing to be done beyond the taking 
of judicious exercise. The office of cook was filled by 
the men best able to walk about and carry wood ; Char- 
ley Tong Sing, the steward, doing duty the first week, 
and Manson, Wilson, and others succeeding him. I as- 
sembled the crew and reminded them of the circum- 
stances under which we were placed. How after a long 
march we were now nearly naked, and entirely subject 
to the bounty of the natives for what little food we might 
obtain, and, as we would doubtless be obliged to stay 
there for some time to come, the wisdom and necessity 
of conducting ourselves in a peaceable manner must be 
patent to all. Then, too, after our hardships, there was 
danger of scurvy or other sickness breaking out among 
us, and the only way to contend against this was to live 
as we had before, in good fellowship, keeping as bright 
and cheerful, and as dry and warm, as possible, con- 
stantly exercising without fatiguing ourselves ; and when 
the river had frozen over an effort would instantly be 
made to communicate with Belun. 

Nicolai Chagra daily furnished us with four fish, 
weighing in all about sixteen pounds, and of these we 
made a long soup, that is, a soup economically lengthened 
out with water. I still adhered to my old plan of equally 
distributing the contents of the kettle in pans, and so in- 
sured a fair division of our food ; although it was amus- 
ing at times to see two persons seize the same pan and 
struggle over it, until, through feebleness or complaisance, 
either surrendered ; or to watch those who, their hunger 
overcoming their manliness, would, with a watery mouth 
and rapt eye, gaze on the pans in process of filling, edg- 
ing their way the while towards the one they accounted 
the largest, and at the word "Go! " grab it triumphantly* 



126 * IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Yapheme took his soup and fish along with the rest of 
us, and we led a comparatively happy life in our " Ba- 
logan Americanski " (American House). Beyond the 
petty tiffs growing out of arguments, in which, as is gen- 
erally true, there was more talk than logic, little or no 
quarreling occurred among the crew. And their discus- 
sions usually ended in a loud guffaw at some happy hit 
made by a party to the argument. 

Yapheme taught us the Russian and Yakut languages, 
and acted as our interpreter. The men constructed 
checker-boards and chessmen and repaired their cloth- 
ing. The first night in our new hut I drew up a letter 
to the officer commanding the district, outlining the cir- 
cumstances which had brought us to Jaraaveloch and re- 
questing him to forward a copy of my letter to the 
American minister at St. Petersburg. Copies were writ- 
ten in French, German, and Swedish ; and a few old 
letters or envelopes belonging to some members of the 
party being added as proof of our identity, all were done 
up in a package, and then securely sewed within an oil- 
skin bag, cut from an old piece of clothing. Mr. Danen- 
hower and myself walked over to the starosti's hut, and 
impressed him with the importance of dispatching the 
package at once to the Commandant at Belun. He un- 
derstood, and promised to send it as soon as possible ; and, 
in order to urge him to action, the package was sewed up 
in his presence by his wife. He then told us that it 
would be ten or fifteen days before the bay could be 
crossed in safety. A light fall of snow had occurred dur- 
ing the night, and the river, as far as the eye could reach, 
was covered with ice, save in mid-channel and a few 
spots. I now knew why the natives were so anxious for 
us to haul the whale-boat out on the bank above the 
river. I had supposed they dreaded a storm ; but it was 
for fear the boat would be frozen in, and then a storm 
coming on would break up the ice and carry it out to sea. 



SIBERIAN LIFE. 127 

So now there was nothing else to be done. Mrs. 
Chagra gave us some fish to eat, and we trudged back to 
our hut to await the solid freezing of the bay. 

At this time our situation seemed very uncertain to 
me. We had not yet become fully acquainted with the 
temper of the natives, about whom very little was written 
or known. On board ship there had been a record of a 
Russian officer, who, accompanied by his wife and thirty 
or more Cossacks, had attempted to winter at the mouth 
of the Lena; but who, although bountifully supplied 
with food, and in full communication with the natives, 
had, with his whole party, perished of scurvy. What 
then was the outlook for us, who had already accom- 
plished a wonderful retreat, and who, utterly worn out, 
lame and half - famished, were now living on decayed 
geese and a very limited supply of fish ? We certainly 
could not exist through the winter at Jamaveloch ; for, 
should scurvy, perchance, favor us with its absence, I felt 
confident that either typhoid fever or poisoning, as a 
result of the food we were eating, would break out 
among us. 

We possessed but very few articles to barter away to 
the natives, and they, indeed, could spare as few as we. 
Our clothing was worn out, and we repaired it by sewing 
patch on patch. Soaking our swollen limbs in warm 
water we soon found to be a pleasant, temporary relief 
from pain. The frost-bite and sores healed rapidly, the 
swelling subsided, and to my great delight we all gained 
in strength and happiness — all save Leach, from whose 
toes the flesh had wasted away, exposing the bones. Gan- 
grene had apparently set in, and if they were neglected 
for a day the odor was unbearable. Bartlett was his 
constant attendant ; daily preparing a kettle of hot water 
in which he bathed and cleaned the sores, and, with a 
jack-knife in hand, pared away the flesh in a masterly 
manner. But at this time Leach seemed ill all over. 



128 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

He had lost heart, and said he did not care whether 
school kept in or not. Although a brilliant fire was con- 
tinually burning, and he sat so close to it that his jacket 
blazed, he yet complained of the cold, and when told that 
he was on fire said that it made no difference to him, he 
would get another jacket. Indeed, to all appearances it 
was quite an effort for him to tolerate the kind attentions 
of "Dr." Bartlett. 

Thus our daily routine ran on. The geese, which com- 
prised one of our two meals per day, had been killed 
during the summer while nesting, and as a consequence 
were inordinately poor and proportionately tough. Yet 
if this had been all, our food had been agreeable; but, as 
I have mentioned elsewhere, the geese, which tide the 
natives over the hard times they experience between the 
going of the deer and the coming of the fish season, 
though dead, are often found to be alive again, and any- 
thing but pleasant to the taste. It was Bartlett's daily 
duty to obtain our supply of four geese and four fish from 
Nicolai Chagra, and we had been living on good terms 
with our dusky neighbors, until, one morning going as 
usual on his honest errand, Bartlett was surprised to 
have Chagra hand him three instead of four fish for our 
breakfast. Of course, he remonstrated, when Chagra, 
after considerable talk and gesticulation threw, in great 
anger, a partially rotten goose at Bartlett ; who, there- 
upon, in good American style, sprang at the repentant 
starosti and chased him through the village. We now 
received information that fish, and, indeed, food of any 
kind, was very scarce in the village, and there was danger 
of our supplies being entirely cut off. Yapheme cau- 
tioned us against bartering away with too liberal a hand 
our small store of articles ; but what I most feared was 
that the natives, being somewhat wandering in their 
habits, might, unknown to us, fold their tents like the 
Arabs, and as silently steal away in the night, and so 



SIBERIAN LIFE. 129 

leave us in the lurch. For after all, whether by barter- 
ing or not, we must depend upon them for our food, and 
when none was left, they doubtless would travel from 
place to place in search of some; eventually, perhaps, 
quartering themselves on their more fortunate neighbors, 
the men, women, and children lightening the burdens of 
their friends by assisting them to fish and make nets. 

Meanwhile the " Red Fiend" continued to instruct us 
in the mysteries of the Russian and Yakut tongues, with 
which we all became more or less familiar. Iniguin, our 
North American Indian from Norton Sound, was quite a 
curiosity to the villagers, and at once sprang in great 
favor, when it was made known that he, too, had been 
nomadic like themselves. They were Tunguses, they 
said, and we informed them that Iniguin was an American 
Tunguse; and soon he was visiting around among his 
copper-colored brethren and sisters, who began straight- 
way to make and repair his moccasins and clothing ; 
until, finally, it was noised around that Iniguin had 
found a sweetheart in the village, which he blushingly 
acknowledged, and, in praising her good qualities, said, 
" Him plenty good little old woman." 

In daily visiting the edge of the bay to test the 
strength of the ice ; in spinning yarns ; in speculating 
on the fate of the first and second cutters, and the length 
of our detention at Jamaveloch — thus we passed the 
tardy hours. Some of the men would go down to the 
shore and watch the natives hauling in their nets ; and, 
as the fish became more plentiful, would augment our 
scanty supply — no matter how. 

And, while on the subject of fishing, I will enlighten, 
in a very few words, those of poor De Long's critics who, 
I have noticed, wonder why " the fool did not catch fish, 
in which the rivers abound ? " The fact is, that he did 
try to catch fish with the only means he had at hand — 
hook and lines, which I recovered and brought back to 



130 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the United States. But fish are by no means procurable 
in the Lena River at all seasons of the year, and when 
they are (for a couple of brief months) th,e natives take 
them entirely by nets, not knowing, indeed, what a hook 
or line is. It would have been manifestly out of the 
question for us to have burdened ourselves on the march 
with a net or nets, and hence it should be plain to the 
reflecting reader why De Long and his party did not sub- 
sist on fish. 

It is not until October, when the ice covers the bay, 
that the fishing season sets fully in. Then the finny 
tribes run as elsewhere, ascending the rivers to spawn 
and descending later on. The nets are made entirely of 
white horse-hair, white manes and tails forming a large 
proportion of the stock of the few traders, — the natives 
preferring the white since it is not so readily seen by the 
fish. Their net-making is one of the most tedious pro- 
cesses imaginable ; and at it the women, old and young, 
and the blind stranger or other pensioner who sits wea- 
rily behind the chimney-place, are almost constantly em- 
ployed. The first operation consists in pulling out five, 
seven, or nine hairs, and " fairing " the ends at the roots, 
which the blind accomplish by pressing them against the 
tongue and so tying the knots. After which, during a 
second handling, they are twisted into a strand, and then 
knotted by short pieces into the net, a small stick serving 
for the size of the mesh, but no needle being used to pass 
the strand, as the custom is with our fishermen. I no- 
ticed that the tongue and teeth play a prominent part in 
the knotting or weaving of their nets ; which, when fin- 
ished have from a two-and-a-half to a three-and-a-half 
inch mesh; are from a fathom to a fathom and a half 
deep; and are from fifteen to twenty fathoms long. The 
top lines are kept afloat by means of light wooden buoys ; 
and the bottoms are held down by a series of weighted 
hoops, six inches in diameter, made of wood, split in two, 



SIBERIAN LIFE. 131 

after the manner of cane - seating for chairs ; and to 
which, when twisted into shape, and neatly sewed with 
flexible rushes, stones are fastened. The idea is to keep 
the nets free of the mud while the floats preserve them 
in a vertical position. 

When a net is to be set after strong ice has formed, a 
row of holes is cut across the proper channel, and a long 
pole is pushed under the ice from hole to hole, carrying 
with it a horse-hair rope a little longer than the net, the 
length of which is consequently less, by a couple of fath- 
oms, than the distance apart of the extreme holes. Then 
by hauling through the rope, and paying out the net, 
until it is all under the ice, the ends being fastened to 
stakes, the net is set and ready to capture the fish in its 
meshes. The middle and intermediate holes are now 
permitted to freeze over ; but it becomes a necessary and 
most arduous dut}^ to keep open those at either end, in 
order to haul out the net, which is done every morning 
and night, or, if the fish are running in large quantities, 
as often as every four hours, no matter how low the tem- 
perature or how high the wind. To break and keep open 
the holes, an ice-pick made of iron, fitted on the end of a 
short, stout pole, is used, — the broken ice being cast out 
and thrown up into hills by means of an oval-shaped 
wooden sieve attached to a pole. 

The natives here, and, indeed, all along the coast of 
Siberia, live upon the game peculiar to each season. In 
the spring-time they lie in their canoes, ambushed under 
the high river bank, and await the coming of the rein- 
deer, which have favorite crossing-places on their annual 
migrations to the north. The herd marches across the 
tundra until the water edge is reached, when the leader 
strikes boldly out for the opposite shore. They wade 
and swim unmolested until the whole herd is well out in 
the stream, and then the hunters dash forth in numbers 
from under cover of the bank, each armed with a long 



132 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

spear or lance, which rests in the crotch of a forked deer- 
horn placed in the bow of the canoe, in order to keep 
the spear in readiness and protect it, as well as the oc- 
cupant, from harm. As the hunters dash whooping and 
yelling into the midst of the herd, the deer are panic- 
stricken, and, losing the guidance of their leader, strike 
out in all directions. Although excellent swimmers, the 
poor animals, which can fly like the wind over the smooth 
heath or tundra, are now at a disadvantage ; for the na- 
tives are in their most congenial element, and, nimbly 
plying their paddles, dart and flash about from one vic- 
tim to another, working quick and sad havoc among the 
stately drove with the deadly thrusts of their lances. 
The action is continued while a living deer is in the 
water, and, when there is none left, the floating carcasses 
are towed to the shore, where the women and children, 
if at hand, assist in cleaning and preparing the meat. 
Meanwhile those of the herd which escaped injury have 
scampered away in safety until the next crossing is 
reached ; while the fugitive wounded are followed up by 
the young hunters on the opposite shore, or sometimes 
are tracked by the dogs. 

In autumn, when the herds are wending their way to 
the south, the slaughter is repeated, and thus are two 
seasons of the hunting year filled in, during which the 
natives are comparatively well fed ; while through the 
summer and winter they rely for food upon the fish and 
geese. These latter are sometimes killed with bow and 
arrow. Another means of securing them consists in run- 
ning a line of horse-hair nooses across a point of land or 
convenient place frequented by the geese. These nooses 
are fastened to short, flexible rods after the manner of 
fishing-poles, which are then stuck into the ground, and 
the snares are arranged so close together that it is impos- 
sible for the game to thread its way through the line un- 
caught. The geese settle on the point of land to feed ; 






SIBERIAN LIFE. 133 

whereupon the native boy or woman approaches them, 
and they gradually retreat full into the real danger, and 
the nooses tighten around their necks, until the whole 
flock has been driven through the line of poles or fright- 
ened away by the fluttering wings of the captives, which 
the natives soon dispatch with heavy sticks. During the 
nesting season the eggs are also gathered in large quan- 
tities and buried in the earth until winter ; their state of 
incubation, howsoever far advanced, mattering but little 
to the accommodating taste of the native, who, in fact, 
makes use of all kinds of eggs and finds no fault with 
the fresh ones. And though when eating them raw the 
mere presence of a young bird in the shell does not seem 
to perturb him, yet I have noticed that everywhere he is 
particular, when frying his eggs, to pick out the yellow 
feathers from the pan. Yapheme supplied us at differ- 
ent times with these eggs, which we fried in the ortho- 
dox American style — sans feathers. There was, at first, 
some little discussion in the hut as to the propriety of 
using the over-ripe eggs, but I finally concluded to cook 
them all together ; and thus the identity of the poor 
little geese was lost in the " scramble." 



CHAPTER X. 
KUSMA TO OUR RESCUE. 

Incidents in our Balogan. — Kusma. — Faithless Spiridon. 

Many were our projects, at one time or another, to 
make forced marches from Jamaveloch to Belun. Aye; 
but we had neither food, clothing, sleds, nor guide, and 
the distance was two hundred and eighty versts — across 
the bay, over a mountain range, and along the ice-gorged, 
but still broken, Lena River. It pleased me to sit and 
listen to the numerous and diverse plans proposed for our 
relief by one and all ; and I thought to glean a word of 
wisdom, a ray of hope. But there were too many " ifs " 
in all the schemes. " If we had " — " if we only had" — 

However, with the exception of a little difficulty which 
grew out of the trading proclivities of one of my party, 
the days passed pleasantly enough with us in the village. 
We had repaired our clothing and health, our limbs were 
rapidly healing, and we were now on good visiting terms 
with our neighbors. In the difficulty mentioned I did 
not think our Yankee peddler nearly so shrewd as the 
Russian copert ; and he desired to retreat after the bar- 
gain had been partially executed. The matter was 
referred to me, and, sleeping upon it, I decided that a 
bargain was a bargain, even though one of my people be 
the loser, and notwithstanding he alleged that in addi- 
tion to the copert's advantage in the trade, he was also 
indebted to my countryman for medical services in having 
cured him of a bad cold by means of homeopathic doses 
from a private store of sugar-coated pellets. Saving this 



KUSMA TO OUR RESCUE. 135 

and a well substantiated charge preferred against one of 
the men of having stolen and eaten from our scant store 
of venison, there were no disputes, no ill-feeling among 
us — the familiar sailor growls counting for naught, of 
course, since they ended, as usual, in smoke. But I 
must note an exception in the case of Wilson, who, 
acting as cook for the time being, did once hang up the 
geese over his bunk in order that they might thaw out 
during the night and so be ready in the morning to pluck 
and clean for breakfast. They thawed, it is true, but 
too freely, for the juices and intestines dropped out and 
fell upon Leach, who was slumbering alongside of Wilson. 
And yet even the commotion occasioned by this incident 
was pleasantly smoothed over by some one saying that 
Leach should not growl, since he was getting more than 
his share of goose, and if he did n't like or want it, he 
had only to put it back again. 

One afternoon, while we were still waiting for the bay 
to freeze, and wondering what the da} 7 might bring forth, 
our "Red Fiend" entered the hut in a flurry and very 
ceremoniously introduced his friend Kusma Gennayeff, 
a Russian soldat. He was a bright, intelligent looking 
man, and I at once hoped far more from him than from 
any one we had yet met ; and so told him who we were, 
as Yapheme had indeed done before. I complained to him 
that the natives were dealing deceitfully with us ; that 
Nicolai Chagra was feeding us on putrid geese, which, I 
feared, would sicken us unto death ; that we were soldiers 
of America, and that General Tschernaieff, Governor of 
Yakutsk, would surely punish any of his people who 
would permit us to suffer for want of anything in their 
possession that would contribute to our health and com- 
fort. And, finally, I said that if he, Kusma, would 
journey to Belun with my letters, and bring me back 
food, clothing, and reindeer teams, I would give him the 
whale-boat and five hundred roubles ; provided, however, 
he start at once. 



136 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

That was impossible, he said. The bay was still open 
in places, and although he had succeeded in picking his 
way across it from the main-land, it had been a very dan- 
gerous feat. He was a small trader, and had undertaken 
the risk in order to barter with the natives ; and though 
he had but few provisions at his hut, he would send us 
all he could spare ; and thereupon handing me what salt 
there was left in his salt-box, which he carried with him, 
he assured me that in four days, on Thursday ( Chick- 
verk), he would come again. I could purchase a reindeer 
for food, he thought, from a friend in his village, who 
would accept my promise to pay; and as Mr. Danen- 
hower suggested that some one should accompany Kusma 
and secure it, as well as any other procurable provisions, 
I consented to his going, with orders to return as speedily 
as possible. 

It was night when they started, and Danenhower came 
back the next morning, bringing with him some leaf 
tobacco; some sugar; five pounds of salt; about five 
pounds of rye-meal, and the dressed carcass of a young 
deer, weighing about ninety pounds. The venison was 
a great luxury to us, but greater than it by far was the 
salt, a taste of which had not been afforded us for weeks. 
Indeed, we had saved in all but four pounds of salt from 
the ship, and this amount quickly disappeared among 
thirty-three men, though we only used it in bear, seal, or 
walrus stews. When it had entirely given out, we found 
a substitute on the retreat in the shape of saltwater; 
but if this be added to a stew too liberally, or in the 
early stage of the cooking, it renders the mess bitter and 
unfit to eat, owing to the presence of the bitter and pur- 
gative element in sea-water, which, in the manufacture of 
salt, is drawn off before the sodium chloride is deposited. 
Salt water, of course, cannot be procured at Jamaveloch, 
which is pitched along the fresh-water estuary between 
the mouth of the Lena and the outlying islands in the 



KUSMA TO OUR RESCUE. 137 

Arctic Sea. Hence, at the Delta salt is worth a rouble 
per pound, and is used as sparingly by the natives as is 
cayenne pepper in our households ; a thimbleful of salt 
amply supplying a family of ten persons for a day — if, 
indeed, they be so fortunate as to get any in a month. 

With these fresh provisions and an increased supply of 
fish, our prospects began to brighten, and Kusma's ex- 
pected coming to make final arrangements for his jour- 
ney to Belun was now the topic for our hourly and 
almost constant comment. The question arose whether 
it would not be advisable to send one of the party along 
with Kusma to facilitate matters and stir up the Russian 
official, who, as a class, is the most notorious of procras- 
tinators. Bartlett, in whom I placed full confidence in 
all things, asked permission to go, and I was inclined to 
grant his request, but as Mr. Danenhower remonstrated, 
saying it would be derogatory to him, I held my decision 
in reserve. I was in a quandary. Captain De Long had 
ordered me not to permit Mr. Danenhower to do any 
duty, and, although I was now independent of De Long, 
still I did not feel called upon to disobey his orders, for 
it was probable that upon my arrival at Belun I might 
there find him or Chipp ; albeit the general opinion was 
that both had been lost in the gale. 

At length the expected day arrived, and with it be- 
times came Kusma, true to his agreement. Again I went 
over the points in our contract, and urged him to make 
haste. He assured me that he could perform the journey 
to and from Belun in five days. Then, when I asked if 
he could take a courier from my party, his prompt reply 
dissipated my perplexity. No, he could not. Why? 
He had but seven dogs and would have to secure more, 
since one man with his equipment and dog-food would 
weigh four hundred pounds, and, consequently, the addi- 
tion of a courier with outfit would increase the load to 
eight hundred pounds. Then, too, if he must go quickly, 



138 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

he could not be burdened with a man requiring care and 
attention ; he must have, if any, some one who would be 
an aid to him, not a charge. If alone, he could go and 
return in five days, but otherwise not. And this settled 
the question. 

I had prepared certain dispatches to the United States 
Minister at St. Petersburg, and to the Secretary of the 
Navy ; but as I expected so soon to see or hear from the 
Russian authorities, I did not think it wise to send them ; 
for since I had written the originals our situation had 
materially improved, and I had no desire to alarm the 
world with news until I was altogether sure of it ; hence 
I refrained from telegraphing information of De Long's 
fate until I had first viewed his dead body. Yet, as the 
sequel will show, my delay in sending the dispatches 
made no difference in the final results, beyond postpon- 
ing the arrival of the news in the United States of my 
landing at the Lena Delta. 

On the 14th of October Kusma left Jamaveloch, 
promising to return in five days. Would he keep his 
word ? I had learned by this time that lying is not con- 
sidered a sin either by the natives or the Russian peas- 
ant ; on the contrary, if cleverly done, it is rather re- 
garded in the light of an accomplishment ; and during 
the whole of my stay in Siberia I found it practiced 
everywhere, as well in the most trivial as in the most 
trying circumstances. Immediately after Kusma had de- 
parted for "Tamoose," his place of abode, I was suddenly 
reminded by Danenhower that I had forgotten to instruct 
him to spread the news, as he traveled along, of the loss 
of the other two parties, and to offer in my name a re- 
ward of one thousand roubles to any person who would 
bring me information of their whereabouts. To make 
good this neglect, I sent over Danenhower, upon his own 
request, to Tamoose. He returned the next day, and in- 
formed me that Nicolai Chagra, our starosti, would ac- 



KUSMA TO OUR RESCUE. 139 

company Kusma to Belnn. This, at first, was a very 
surprising and unwelcome piece of intelligence to me, 
for I could not understand it to be otherwise than some 
arrangement between the two calculated to defeat or in- 
terfere with my plans ; and it was not until some time 
afterward that I learned that Kusma, being a criminal 
exile, was prohibited under a penalty from visiting Belun 
unless accompanied by the starosti. And they started 
together, I heard, on the 16th, leaving us to count with 
impatient anxiety the days of their absence. 

On his visits to Tamoose, Mr. Danenhower had been 
told by Kusma and the natives that Cape Barkin was only 
forty versts to the northeast of us, — a wretched untruth, 
the distance being about one hundred and ten versts, in 
a bee-line. However, Mr. Danenhower was anxious to 
proceed there on a search, and I reluctantly gave him 
my permission, but cautioned him not to cross running 
streams or broken ice, or to jeopardize himself in any 
way so as to delay my party beyond the return of Kusma, 
four days thence. He had previously gone to Tamoose 
and back in company with Spiridon, the villainous-look- 
ing Tunguse whom we had met at Arii, the deserted vil- 
lage, and of whom we had all formed an adverse opinion. 
But now, to my great astonishment, Mr. Danenhower 
asserted that he had found him to be a most excellent 
dog-driver, and that he "could do with him just as he 
pleased." 

So, everything being satisfactorily arranged, Danen- 
hower and Spiridon started off for Tamoose to secure the 
few pounds of tea and tobacco which Spiridon exacted 
for the hire of himself and dogs. And then this wily 
guide, having his pay in advance, carried our astounded 
shipmate to his hut at Arii, where they supped and 
passed the night ; and when Mr. Danenhower demanded 
of him that they begin the journey to Cape Barkin at 
once, the stonily stolid but astute native was nothing if 



140 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

not a sphinx. Threats and cajolery were alike unable 
to move him. The faithful one who would go anywhere, 
or do anything at slightest beck or bidding, now that he 
was paid, even refused to carry back his master to Ja- 
maveloch and the " Balogan Americanski." But sure 
enough, in due course of time, in came " Dan." with the 
woful visage of the Knight of De la Mancha, and as he 
gradually unfolded to our anxious ears the mournful tale 
of Spiridon's duplicity, the loss of tea and tobacco, and 
the consequent and ignoble defeat of the u first organ- 
ized search " for our lost companions, — first a smile stole 
round the hut, then a titter, and finally a loud guffaw, 
when the " faithful one " was denounced as an " infa- 
mous pirate." 

Still the good and honest Vasilli Kool Gar was ready 
with his dog-team to retrieve the day for our doleful and 
would-be hero. To be sure, it was necessary to obtain 
another fee of tea and tobacco for old Vasilli ; so off they 
went, sleeping that night at the hut of Kusma, and start- 
ing the next morning for Tarrahue. Mr. Danenhower's 
report of the trip to me was that they ran along, much 
to his perplexity, to the southeast instead of the north 
or northeast, in which direction we all knew Cape Bar- 
kin to be. They journeyed so about forty versts, and 
came in sight of a large island, which they were pre- 
vented from visiting by the insecurity of the ice ; then, 
sleeping in a hut over night, they made several attempts 
the next day to cross the black and treacherous ice to 
the island, and, failing in which, returned instanter to 
Jamaveloch and the bosoms of their friends. 

Mrs. Kusma called twice upon us, bringing presents of 
tea and tobacco. The latter she handed around by the 
leaf, giving an equal number to all ; and then she took 
tea with us, and a share of our fish. Later on she sent 
us some rye-cakes, fried like flap-jacks in fish-oil ; but 
meal being a very scarce article among the natives, she 



KUSMA TO OUR RESCUE. 141 

could afford us but two or three apiece, weighing about 
two ounces each. The few pounds of meal given us by 
Kusma I had stored away, and only used in small quan- 
tities as thickening for our fish-soup. And speaking of 
Kusma, we were now becoming impatient of his pro- 
longed absence. Five days, the time for his return, had 
come and gone, and still no Kusma. Among ourselves 
we now discussed the situation over and over again, 
gravely considering the possibilities of making the march 
to Belun ; for the Balogan Americanski was very much 
of a Liberty Hall, where perfect freedom of speech pre- 
vailed, and I only interfered to check unhealthy famil- 
iarity or prevent the progress of quarrels. We all in- 
dulged, to a greater or less extent, in song ; some of the 
men played games ; and Bartlett once roasted a piece of 
venison before the fire as a tidbit. It was toothsome, 
but by no means as economical as our customary soups, 
the hot liquor of which we sorely missed. 



CHAPTER XL 
A STEP FORWARD. 

Kusma's Coming. — Nindemann and Noros. — I start for Belun. — 
Siberian Dog- Sleds. — A Storm. — Ku Mark Surt. 

Many and long were our anxious looks from the hut- 
top, but all in vain, for a sight of Kusma. The natives 
now came oftener to see us, and, at times, brought fish or 
hauled us a load of wood with their dog-sleds. We were 
all in a fair condition save Leach, whose great toe had 
become black and was rapidly sloughing away, notwith- 
standing the constant care of "Dr." Bartlett, who did all 
to save it that mortal could with a surgical outfit com- 
posed of hot water, a jack-knife, and some ointment 
which Danenhower had carried in a tin box for the relief 
of his eyes. 

Mrs. Kusma came over one day to tell us that an officer 
had died at Belun, which was probably the cause of her 
husband's detention. But from her manner it was plain 
she lied, although I subsequently learned that a petty 
official had indeed died, sometime near the expiration of 
the five days. Cold weather had now set rigorously in, 
and the driving winds and snow-squalls pierced through 
our ragged clothing, chilling us to the heart. But inac- 
tion was worse than death by the roadside ; and I almost 
yielded to the tempting arguments of the men, some of 
whom, with Bartlett at their head, volunteered to haul 
Leach on a sled along with the provisions, if I would only 
give the order to start. And yet when I glanced at my 



A STEP FORWARD. 143 

half-naked party, still suffering from the frost wounds of 
a few weeks before, and listened to the howling pitiless 
blasts without, it seemed the height of desperation and 
of folly to venture forth upon such an undertaking. We 
now had plenty of fish, and with a proper guide might 
have made the march ; and so, goaded on by my own 
harassing impatience at Kusma's intolerable delay, and 
our enforced idleness while perhaps our shipmates were 
dying for want of our assistance, I at length announced 
that we would load the native sleds with fish, haul Leach 
on another, and with a native guide proceed to Belun. 
But where was the guide ? And when I made the an- 
nouncement, I was at once opposed by Mr. Danenhower, 
who said that it would be madness to attempt the march, 
that half of my party would perish, and that he doubted 
if any one in our condition could outlive the journey. 
Bartlett, who never lost his wits, and seemed ready for 
anything, urged the trial; but looking around on the 
miserable objects about me, at the scant and tattered 
clothing, and the crippled feet and legs, I finally and 
resolutely determined the risk to be too great and too 
profitless. For, why incur such danger and court again 
our intense sufferings ? Was not our messenger, Kusma, 
expected hourly ? Had not the five days allotted for his 
trip elapsed and been almost doubled ? So my proposal 
to march the party two hundred and eighty versts, and 
play a game of " mock heroics," luckily fell through and 
ended in talk. 

On the afternoon of the 29th of October, the thir- 
teenth day after Kusma's departure, a couple of sleds 
were seen approaching across the bay. Of course there 
was instant stop to our converse, and every man of us 
ran forth to greet our eagerly expected courier. Never 
was absent lover welcomed more joyfully than Kusma 
and his dusky companion, Nicolai Chagra. When the 
usual salutations and the unloading of the sleds were 



144 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

ended, and the tea-kettle had been put on for our friends' 
refreshment, Kusma was plied with questions as to the 
cause of his delay. In his endeavor to explain how the 
ice in the Lena River had broken up and run out, he 
interlarded his disjointed story with a vague account of 
his having met two deer-sleds in charge of some natives, 
who had with them two Americans almost dead from 
cold and exposure, and who, in turn, had spoken of the 
death of many of their comrades. All of this, and more 
too, Kusma related in a confused jargon of Russian, 
Yakut, and Tunguse, when, suddenly recalling his scat- 
tered wits, he reached inside of his clothing and drew 
forth two letters and a folded scrap of paper, which he 
handed to me, explaining that the first letter was from 
the Cossack commandant, and the other from the Ma- 
linhi Pope, or young priest, of Belun. But the prize 
paper was the dirty, crumpled scrap, which, as I unfolded 
and deciphered it, opened our eyes in astonishment : — 

"Arctic steamer Jeannette lost on the 11th June ; landed on 
Siberia 25th September or thereabouts ; want assistance to go 
for the Captain and Doctor and (9) other men. 

" William F. C. Nindemann, 
" Louis P. Noros, 

" Seamen U. S. K 
" Reply in haste : want food and clothing." 

Questioning Kusma again, I learned that Nindemann 
and Noros were en route for Belun ; that they had been 
found in a hut called " Bulcour," at the first bend of the 
river to the westward, twenty miles to the southward of 
" Tit Arii " (wood island) ; that they were very sick, 
having suffered greatly from hunger and cold ; and that 
he, Kusma, had understood that many of their comrades 
had perished. But consulting the note, I saw that only 
one man was missing, since it read, " The Captain and 
Doctor and (9) other men ; " the nine being emphasized 
by parenthesis. So the immediate query that arose in 



A STEP FORWARD. 145 

our mincls was, Who could the unfortunate one be ? No 
one guessed that it was Ericksen, a North Sea fisherman, 
and one of the finest men in the ship's company. A 
royal Dane, sure enough, who had worked himself out, 
and frozen his feet during the gale by his too constant 
application at steering the boat, when it was unsafe to 
shift the men at the tiller or steering oar. 

While we were yet guessing who the missing man re- 
ferred to in the note could be, I decided that the proper 
thinsr to do was to see Nindemann at once and learn the 
whereabouts of De Long and his party ; so I told Kusma 
that he must instantly load the sleds again with the 
small supply of food, and carry me back to Belun. He 
protested that it was impossible. The dogs were lame ; 
they had been running along for several days, had worn 
out their feet, and could not start on another journey 
until sufficiently fed and rested. But I would not brook 
a delay like this, and insisted upon his going or sending 
immediately to Arii, ten versts to the northward, for a 
fresh team of dogs, so that we might depart that same 
night or the following morning. A messenger was ac- 
cordingly dispatched at once to Arii, and we renewed 
our cross-examination of Kusma. 

He explained how he and the starosti had crossed over 
the mountain range to the east bank of the Lena, and 
found the river all broken up and the ice running out in 
huge masses. It so tossed, rolled, and jammed up into 
mountainous bergs that the stream was impassable, and 
as their road then lay along the river or on its icy bed, 
it seemed as though they would have to turn back for 
want of provisions. Still they held on at a povarnia 
(cook-house) until the ice again made over the Lena, 
when they managed to creep along the edge of the moun- 
tains which rise precipitously above the river. 

As may readily be supposed, it is a peculiarity of 
these northern rivers that their waters are mainly de- 

10 



146 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

rived from the melting snows in the months of June and 
July; when the Lena, for example, overflowing its banks, 
spreads here and there to a width of sixty miles or more. 
As the season advances, the waters decline in volume, 
and during the month of August the river rapidly sub- 
sides, until by the first of September it is flowing at 
low ebb. This is the period at which all melting ceases 
and the young ice begins to form, and as the process goes 
on, the water which bore the ice on its bosom falls away 
for want of further supply from the south, and the great 
sheet of ice, with nothing to uphold or sustain it, tumbles 
in, and is carried away by the swift, unchanging cur- 
rent, for there is no tide. Then the ice grinds, swirls, 
and piles upward, while the river rises in its might and 
drives the ice before it like so much brushwood rolled 
before the wind ; and these freezings and floods continue 
until late in autumn, when the river, dwindling to little 
or nothing, quietly seeks beneath the ice its muddy way 
to the sea. And such was the cause of Kusma's delay 
in reaching Belun. 

But upon his arrival there the Cossack commandant, 
Bieshoff, would only permit him to tarry and rest one 
night, hurrying him back to Jamaveloch, with a small 
amount of provisions and the letter from himself and 
the Malinki Pope, and also the verbal message that he, 
Bieshoff, would be at Jamaveloch, postle zoftria (day 
after to-morrow), bringing food, clothing, and reindeer 
enough to convey the whole of my party to Belun. 

Some uncharitable person has circulated the report 
that Kusma's delay was due to his having become intoxi- 
cated while en route ; but I am glad to say that such was 
not the belief of Bieshoff, or the finding of an official in- 
quiry instituted at my request by Epatchieff, the esprav- 
nicJc of the district. It was then shown that there was 
not a drop of vodki or spirits to be had between Kusma's 
house and Belun ; that Bieshoff permitted Kusma to re- 



A STEP FORWARD. 147 

main but one night in Belun ; and that, since he followed 
him the day after by reindeer teams, and Kusma arrived 
at Jamaveloch a day ahead, the report was consequently 
a base slander, and had its origin in the meaner qualities 
of man's nature, which, in some people, are supreme and 
ungovernable — people whom we see belie, belittle, tra- 
duce, and abuse those of their fellows who earnestly try 
to do their duty, to be a little better, or to do a little 
better, than the soulless curs around them. 

Poor Kusma did go and return as quickly as it was 
possible at that season of the year; and remember, please, 
there is no beaten track or road in these regions. The 
face of the country changes its appearance every season, 
and only those accustomed to traveling it can find their 
way without compass, directed by the mountain peaks 
and furrows of snow thrown up by the prevailing winds. 
Kusma and all the natives in the vicinity interested in 
our care or guidance were rigidly examined in my pres- 
ence by Epatckieff, in obedience to an order from Gen- 
eral Tsckernaieff, and but one verdict could be reached, 
which was, that they all did everything that lay in their 
power for our health, comfort, and safety ; that Kusma 
carried the messages from Jamaveloch to Belun as early 
and as speedily as possible (he, indeed, being the first 
person to cross the country and river that season, at great 
personal risk and sacrifice) ; and that his devotion and 
suffering were certainly deserving of something better 
than suspicion and slander. However, it is gratifying to 
know that the most severe, as well as senseless, strictures 
were evolved by critics 10,000 miles or more distant from 
the scene of action, by persons who would doubtless think 
it a terrible hardship if they were obliged to breakfast 
before ten A. M. 

I was unable to leave Jamaveloch on the night of Kus- 
ma's return, so everything was made ready for my de- 
parture on the morrow. It was October 30th, and be- 



148 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

times in the morning, bright and early, came old Va- 
silli Kool Gar with a fine team of dogs. His sleigh was 
old for so long a journey, but a new one was to be pro- 
cured on our way. Before going, I gave Mr. Danen- 
hower verbal orders, which afterwards, when paper be- 
came more plentiful, I put into writing, wherein I in- 
structed him to immediately set out upon the arrival of 
Bieshoff with the deer-sleds and clothing for Belun, and 
there await my arrival. It was my intention, I informed 
him, to intercept Bieshoff on the way and turn him back, 
in order to have him accompany me on my search for the 
missing party of the first cutter ; but failing in this, I 
would hurry on to Belun for the purpose of learning from 
Nindemann the particulars and whereabouts of De Long 
and party, and hence Bieshoff's arrival at Jamaveloch 
would announce the fact that we had failed to meet. 

I took with me the remains of what clothing I had 
saved from the retreat, consisting of the shreds of an un- 
dershirt and pair of drawers which had done duty since 
June ; a pair of thin cassimere trousers which I had not 
only used for months after leaving the ship, but had also 
worn in China during my cruise previous to joining the 
Jeannette, and the legs of which were now lopped off be- 
low the knees to furnish material for patching and quilt- 
ing that portion of a man's main garment soonest in- 
clined to decay ; footless stockings, seal-skin moccasins, a 
blue flannel shirt which I had worn for a year, and my old 
seal-skin coat, shrunk, shriveled, full of holes, and devoid 
of lining. These with a fur cap and a pair of canvas 
mittens completed my costume ; but I carried my faithful 
old sleeping-bag with me, and hauled it up over my feet 
and knees to keep them from freezing ; and then with a 
small supply of perhaps five pounds of bread, some tea, a 
pound of pemmican which I had stowed away for just such 
an emergency, and a lot of frozen fish, we at last started 
on our journey to Belun, with the thermometer ranging 
anywhere from ten to twenty degrees below zero (Fahr.). 



A STEP FORWARD. 149 

It was but a short distance across the bay to Kusma's 
dwelling at Tarnoose, where we were to procure the new 
sled that would stand the rough usage of travel across the 
mountains and over the broken ice of the river. Arrived 
at Tamoose, we at once busied ourselves in getting the 
sled in order, when lo ! to my surprise, I learned that it 
would have to be built ; that is, new runners and stan- 
chions would have to be put under the sled we had in 
view. There was no use fretting. Our own conveyance 
was worn out and worthless ; so the new one must be 
built, and at once, and I was at least pleased to watch it 
grow into shape under my eyes, which it did so smartly 
that before evening we were altogether prepared for our 
journey. 

This was the close of October 30th, 1881. A memo- 
orable day, for about one hundred miles distant from 
Tamoose it sealed the sad fate of De Long and his com- 
rades ; and five months later, when I found their bodies, 
turning to the last written page of De Long's note-book, 
or " ice-journal," as it is now known to history, I read 
the last pitiful entry, evidently written in the morn- 
ing, — 

" Oct. 30th, Sunday. — One hundred and fortieth day. 
Boyd and Gortz died during the night. Mr. Collins 
dying." 

So the close of the day that saw me finish and pack 
my sled at Tamoose doubtless closed the eyes and earthly 
career of the commander and remainder of as gallant a 
band of men as ever struggled against fate, or its cruel 
emissaries, ice, snow, hunger, and cold. The next morn- 
ing, October 31st, was very cold, and a brisk breeze blew 
from the eastward, driving the snow in clouds and ob- 
scuring the faint glare of the sun, which had already set- 
tled behind the southern mountain range, not to show its 
face until the following spring. Old Vasilli, ready with 
his team of dogs, supplemented by recruits from Tamoose, 



150 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

in company with some of the villagers and the occupants 
of Kusma's hut, first paid his religious devotions before 
the icon over the guest's couch, with all the elaborate 
ceremony of the navigators of old when starting on a 
long and perilous voyage. Bowing down even unto the 
earth, on which he rested his forehead and which he 
finally kissed, he arose, stood upright, and exclaimed 
" Pi dome ! " (Go on, or, We will go.) 

The dogs had been hitched in harness for some time, 
and were now restless and eager to be off. There were 
eleven in our team, comprising a variety in size and color, 
some being party-colored, though the red fox dog (that is, 
a kind of dog much resembling the red fox in color and 
shape) was in the majority. The rest were mongrels of 
every hue and build, the largest weighing about forty- 
five, and the lightest about twenty-five pounds ; and this 
motley team had been making the icy air resound with 
its discordant solos and chorus. 

I seated myself sideways on the sled with my feet 
trailing on the ground or snow, allowing room in front 
for Vasilli. Composing himself, he seized the great iron- 
shod staff with which he guides the sled and dogs, and 
when in ill-temper, beats them too, and grasping the 
bows of the sled gave it a gentle sway, shouting the while 
to the team. Away we went, with the dogs in full cry, 
all yelping, snapping, biting, and seizing each other from 
behind, those in front turning round to fight back, until 
some were drawn off their feet and dragged along at a 
fearful rate ; Vasilli, yelling at the top of his voice, coaxed, 
scolded, and anathematized by turn, until at length, by 
dint of twisting and rolling over, the team became entan- 
gled into one living mass of vicious flesh. To pacify and 
disentangle the crazy canines, Vasilli leaped upon them 
with his iron-pointed guiding staff, and the only astonish- 
ing thing to me was how the poor brutes could live under 
such a heavy basting. It is true some of them, after re- 



A STEP FORWARD. 151 

ceiving a severe blow on the small of the back, did drag 
their hind-legs for a few minutes, but in the end it did 
not seem to check their desire to bite and fight. Yet 
they were considerably more tractable after this, their 
first beating, and ran along at a more even pace, follow- 
ing the leaders, who in turn were guided and governed 
by Vasilli's word of command : " Tuck, tuck ! Taduck, 
taduck ! Stoi, stoi ! " (right, right ; left, left ; stop, 
stop ;) and a general chuckle of encouragement. 

Directly the dogs had outlived their excitement and 
settled strictly to their work, they looked beautifully 
picturesque, with heads down and manes and tails up and 
wagging, while only an occasional yelp burst from their 
ranks as they scudded along the ravines and over rivers, 
taking the top of the hard snow at about six miles an 
hour. Approaching steep banks, the dogs are sometimes 
turned loose, and the sled lowered by hand ; but when 
not too steep the whole force dashes down the descent, 
and, if great care is not exercised by the driver with his 
staff, sled and riders are rolled over on the ice or snow, 
and not always without serious injury. Such an acci- 
dent occurred to us the first day out from Tamoose, in 
which my left arm above the elbow was so injured as to 
render it powerless for hours, and even at this late date 
the swelling remains. 

The sleds of Siberia are from twelve to fourteen feet 
long, about twenty inches wide, and raised about ten 
inches above the runners, which are five or six inches 
wide, single-ended, and made of birch, when procurable. 
The uprights, of which there are usually five to each 
runner, are made long enough to extend as high above 
the deck or flooring of the sled as below it, in order to 
receive a rail ; while joining the tops not only adds 
strength to the frail - looking frame, but also forms a 
guard for the load. The uprights are fashioned with 
conical ends which fit into corresponding holes in the 



152 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

runner, and midway in the height of the upright, at a 
swell given for strength, is a conical hole, with the larger 
circle on the inside. Into these holes are fitted the 
cross-bearer pieces, on which rests the deck or floor, gen- 
erally made of one or two thin slabs of wood, smoothed 
down, after splitting, with the blade of an axe used as a 
jack-plane. The uprights rake aft a few degrees out of 
the vertical, and are lashed down into the runners by 
thongs which run up through and are counter-sunk or 
let in beneath the runners, and pass through holes bored 
near the bottom of the uprights. 

The whole affair is lashed together, but left as elastic 
as a willow basket, none of its parts being tightly wedged 
or pinned, since, if made rigid, the rough travel for which 
it is intended would soon break it to pieces ; whereas, if 
any of the lashings should break or wear out, a ready re- 
sort can be had to the harness or long trace to which the 
dogs are hitched. A large birch bow, one and a half 
inches in diameter, bent in one sweep of nearly a circle, 
binds the two runners together in front at the same 
time that it wards off projecting pieces of ice, and to it 
the lanyard or trace is also attached. 

I said that our team consisted of eleven dogs of vari- 
ous breeds. They were hitched in pairs along the centre 
trace at equal intervals of about four feet, with a leader 
in advance. At a convenient distance from the bow com- 
mence the toggles, by means of which the dogs are fast- 
ened to the trace. The dog harness of Siberia is of the 
kind known in this country as "Dutch harness," with 
breast strap, etc. ; and I do not consider it near so sen- 
sible or comfortable in arrangement for the dogs as that 
in use by the natives of Norton Sound or St. Michael's. 
The former runs up and chokes the dog around the neck 
when not carefully adjusted, — something which the trav- 
eler in cold weather cannot always find time to do ; 
whereas the latter harness rests upon the back of the 



A STEP FORWARD. 153 

dog's neck, and when he hauls settles down, bringing the 
load on his shoulders. It is made in the form of a figure 
eight, the head passing through one of the loops, and the 
other being long enough to pass under the fore-legs and 
up on the back, where a short trace takes hold and at- 
taches it to the toggle. These toggles make it a compar- 
atively easy task to clear a dog-team when tangled up 
in a fight. 

I noticed that a peculiarity of the trained Siberian 
dog is that after being turned loose for any purpose, he 
will at once resume his place in harness again when 
called ; although a strange dog may sometimes require a 
little coaxing, which the natives do by playfully throw- 
ing up their mittens to attract his attention, and so pro- 
tect him from the fury of the " old stagers." After a 
run of an hour or less the dogs are usually brought to a 
stop and permitted to rest ; whereupon they roll around 
and rub the rime out of their eyes and ears, and from 
their heads, and then, stretching out, lick their paws, 
which soon become very sore from travel. A team can 
seldom endure more than ten days' continuous work, for, 
no matter how well fed, the feet wear out and bleed, 
and the dogs are shortly so enfeebled as to be almost 
useless. A native will not willingly drive his team two 
days in succession, the custom being to travel one day 
and rest the next. 

Not so with me, however, for I insisted upon push- 
ing forward as rapidly as possible, and when night fell 
we pulled up at a povarnia, about sixty versts from Ta- 
moose. Here was congregated a mixed crowd of natives 
and small traders who were proceeding on their respec- 
tive routes to secure the cream of the fall trade, all hud- 
dled together, men, women, and children, in the hut, 
which was about twelve feet square and four and a half 
feet high, with a fire-place in the centre of the floor, over 
which a dozen pots and kettles were cooking for the dif- 



154 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

ferent parties. Making room for the new-comers, they 
all concentrated their gaze and conversation on us, while 
Vasilli placed my sleeping-bag in a corner of the povar- 
nia, and put on bis tea and cooking kettles, the latter 
containing a portion of a reindeer head. Then having 
staked and fed the dogs, and eaten our supper, we turned 
in for the night. Thirty persons in a but not more than 
twelve feet square ! After the day's journey I felt none 
the worse, save for the hurt I had received from the 
overturning of the sled ; though the pains in my legs 
and feet, which had not yet entirely recovered from tbeir 
former freezing, were terrible, and fresh blisters had 
formed on my heels and sbins, and the toe-nails had 
turned black and begun to curl up like burnt feathers. 
Yet in a little while we were all asleep, now and then 
disturbed by the howling of the dogs without or the bit- 
ing of the vermin within. 

Day broke with a fierce wind, which, drifting the snow 
in clouds, caused the poor dogs to bay out their misery 
with all the strength left in their weak quivering bodies. 
For, on a journey, they are never housed at night, either 
when halting at a povarnia or elsewhere, but a stake is 
driven in the snow at the bow of the sled to retain it in 
place, the main trace is hauled well taut and made fast 
to another stake, and the driver's great iron-shod staff is 
finally hitched into the centre of the trace and elevated 
so as to barely permit the middle dogs to lie down. This 
is done to prevent fighting and consequent entanglement, 
and while thus confined they are fed, each dog voraciously 
devouring his fish or fraction thereof. The young and 
vigorous members of the team, with good, sharp teeth, 
quickly absorb their rations, and then endeavor to seize 
the whole or a part of their aged neighbors', which, men- 
acing the enemy with sundry snaps and growls, manage 
after occasional frenzied bites to bolt their frozen meal, 
provided that the aged one is not assaulted from the 



A STEP FORWARD. 155 

rear, either from "pure cussedness " by a co-laborer just 
robbed, or by a youthful and vicious marauder urged to 
the attack by his knowledge that the old and defenseless 
one has lost his teeth and is fain to "gum" his food. 
Often in an affair of this kind the attacking party fails 
after all to secure the fish, for, while owner and enemy 
are making war for its possession, a sly cur takes, lawyer- 
like, a quiet hand in the affray and carries off the prize. 

Our dogs could only be seen as trembling masses of 
snow, and Vasilli did not wish to start until the weather 
cleared or the wind calmed. Few if any of our fellow- 
travelers cared to face the storm, and only those who 
had a following wind gathered their traps together and 
ventured forth later in the day, when the gale had slightly 
abated. Vasilli then intimated his willingness to re- 
sume the journey, protesting, however, his fears for my 
safety in such weather. I was still limping and miser- 
able, and the cold wind and snow sifted through my tat- 
tered garments, setting me to shake and shiver, while the 
natives, observing my condition, shook their heads and 
muttered "Morose" (cold and hungry). But I urged 
Vasilli on, and so with their blessings and crossings, and 
a few presents of dried fish from the sympathetic natives, 
began my second day's journey toward Belun. 

The weather cleared as we proceeded, but the cold be- 
came more intense, severely cramping my frozen feet and 
legs. During the day Vasilli halted the team about 
every half hour, and while the dogs rested I thrashed 
about in an endeavor to coax the blood to circulate to 
my extremities ; for it was out of the question for me to 
run alongside of the sled, since the dogs, with lightened 
load, quickened their pace beyond the power of one so 
crippled as myself to keep up with them. Day darkened 
into night, and we still staggered on over the bed of the 
river, having left the mountains. It was here that I had 
hoped to intercept Bieshoff, the Cossack commandant, 



156 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

with his deer-teams ; and it was my intention to either 
turn him back to Belun, or start with him immediately 
to the north, if he knew the location of De Long and 
party from the information given him by Nindemann and 
Noros, or by the natives who had found them starving 
in the hut at Bulcour. The ice on the bed of the river 
was exceedingly rough, and thrown up in great heaps 
and ridges like windrows, forcing us to take a very devi- 
ous course in picking our precarious way along the ice- 
shelves by the banks of the river, which we crossed and 
recrossed many times. I thought I should perish of cold 
before we reached Ku Mark Surt ; for I could do nothing 
but sit on the sled, beating my limbs to keep warm, 
while the cold blasts tortured and froze me. As it grew 
darker it grew colder, and kind old Vasilli kept encour- 
aging me, saying, " Malinki, malinki, balogan " (a little, 
little way to the house) ; and as he chattered on and 
scolded the dogs, he would occasionally place his hands 
on me, as if to assure himself that I was there and alive, 
and then, with a cheerful word and laugh, would seem 
perfectly content. 

Long after midnight, while we briefly halted to afford 
the team a breathing spell, Vasilli pointed ahead with 
his staff, saying, "Ku Mark Surt," and, at the same 
time, stretching forth his arms with the hands and fin- 
gers drooping and trembling, after the manner of tree 
branches, repeated over and over again, " Lis, lis, masta " 
(leaves, leaves, wood). Finally I caught the outlines of 
low, dwarf pines fringing the banks of the river, and at 
once understood that we had come to the place where 
trees were growing, or, in other words, had reached the 
limit of timber growth in that region. A pleasing sight 
to me, indeed, for it was the first standing timber I had 
seen for more than two years, and no matter how mean 
and stunted, I felt as though I had met in it an old friend. 

Soon we detected the baying of dogs in a distant vil- 



A STEP FORWARD. 157 

lage, and our team, listening for a moment, answered the 
cry with interest, and then dashed forward with renewed 
vigor. In a little while we could see sparks rising from 
huts on the steep west bank of the river, and, shortly- 
after, the villagers, comprising three or four families, 
aroused by the noise of the dogs, seized our team and as- 
sisted us up the bank and into a new, cozy, and warm 
hut, where a prosperous family, composed of a widow 
with three sons (one being paralyzed in the legs), two 
daughters, and an old aunt, and a blind stranger, lived 
in true Yakut luxury. They had a good hut, plenty of 
fish, fresh and smoked, some tea, and a very little salt. 
Vasilli told them our story all over again, and of course 
the neighbors were present to see and marvel at another 
of the queer beings who had apparently risen out of the 
frozen sea, — the boos byral, — the thought of which 
seems to fill them with terror, for I found them all ready 
and willing to perform any duty except venturing upon 
the sea. 



CHAPTER XII. 

AT BELUN. 

I am Admired. — Deer-Sleds. — Buruloch. — Native Gossips. — 
Meeting with Nindemann and Noros. — Their Piteous Story. — 
The Malinki Pope. — An Unexpected Visit from Bartlett. — Back 
to Buruloch. 

The villagers, who had either seen or heard of Ninde- 
mann and Noros, proceeded to tell me all about them, 
how they looked, and what they and their companions 
had suffered. Then while all busied themselves in the 
preparation of a supper of hot tea and boiled fish, I was 
regaled with some raw, frozen fish-bellies, which melted 
into oil when I placed them in my mouth ; and the na- 
tives were very much surprised to see that I preferred 
the other parts of the fish, cut thin and free of the oily 
fat ; since with them the height of happiness and good 
living consists in a feast of fat things, and as raw, fat 
fish-bellies are the fattest things in Northern Siberia, 
they ate what I rejected, and doubtless wondered at my 
poor taste. Our meal also included some smoke-cured 
fish, and after eating heartily we all turned in and slept 
soundly until broad daylight. 

When I awoke, a small wooden vessel, made in the 
shape of a butcher's tray, was placed on the ground be- 
fore me, and a member of the household stood ready with 
a ladle of water, which he poured into my hands while 
I washed, the wooden trough catching the drippings. 
When breakfast, which differed from*our evening meal 
only in the time of eating, was prepared, the whole house- 



AT BELUN. 159 

hold examined and admired my tin drinking-pot ; and, 
as I had removed my outer clothing, and stood in my red 
flannel under-clothes, now faded, patched and torn, they 
all overhauled me, old and young, male and female, — 
even to the poor old blind man in the corner, who though 
unable to see my gaudy raiment was yet led across the 
hut that he might feel the texture and criticise the cut 
of the stranger's clothes. Every one was delighted with 
my sleeping-bag, and indeed it was quite an improvement 
upon the gear in use by the natives. They sleep on deer- 
skins, each sleeper being furnished with a long narrow 
covering of light cotton calico, quilted with white fox and 
rabbit -skins, the bottom of which is turned under so as 
to form a short bag or pocket, and into this he thrusts 
his feet and legs to the knees, tucking the sides of the 
loose quilt under him. When a couple sleep together, 
the bag is of course wider. The only difference in the 
native's mode of sleeping in or out of doors is that when 
housed, he strips to nudity, whereas when retiring in a 
snow-drift, he usually retains a portion, at least, of his 
clothing. 

After breakfast, I was told by Vasilli that for want of 
dog-food he could go no further, but that the starosti of 
the village would conduct me by deer-sled to Buruloch, 
the next station ; and in a little while I was again un- 
der way, having taken an affectionate farewell of my 
good friend Vasilli, who seemed as proud and careful of 
his charge as he might be, in his old age, of a baby. My 
sleeping-bag and small store of provisions were placed 
on a little sled about six feet long and twenty inches 
wide, with three uprights, and rails, bow and runners ar- 
ranged as in the dog-sled, compared with which, how- 
ever, it was a poor affair. My driver had a separate 
sled, and to each two fine young deer were hitched, fast- 
ened loosely at the head by a halter. A strap of raw- 
hide, one and a half inches wide, passed across the shoul- 



160 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

der and neck and under a fore-leg of one deer, the centre 
running around the bow of the sled, and then back again 
to the other deer, so as to bring an equal strain on each 
animal. A long rein led outside from the forehead of 
the right hand deer, and was held in the left hand of the 
driver, who, perched on the front of his sled, goaded the 
teams onward by means of a slightly tapering pole, ten 
or twelve feet long, and about one inch in diameter, the 
free end furnished with a button made of wood or deer- 
horn, with which he punched the haunches of the deer ; 
my team being hitched behind the other sled. 

Away we went over the smooth banks of the river ; 
along the land when practicable, at other times on the 
ice-shelf, and occasionally my driver would lead the deer 
by the halter over and around the broken, heaped up ice- 
bed. At such times it was impossible to keep on the 
sleds, since they were continually overturning, while the 
driver sought out a path, none as yet having been made 
on the river. Yet, whenever an opportunity presented 
itself, we indulged in fast driving, though such distances 
were very short and disagreeable, too ; for when the deer 
were driven at the top of their speed, they seemed to 
labor painfully along with heads thrust forward, tongues 
hanging out, nostrils distended, sides working at every 
leap like a great pair of blacksmith's bellows, and the 
noise of their breathing like the exhaust of a locomo- 
tive. Maintaining their fearful exertions for about half 
an hour, they suddenly swerve to the right or left among 
the trees, or up a steep bank, to avoid their tormentor, 
or, dropping down in their tracks, bury their heads with 
open mouths deep in the snow, and eat voraciously of the 
cooling dust. 

Before night we had arrived at Buruloch, a deer sta- 
tion on the east side of the Lena River, and eighty versts 
from Belun. Nothing worthy of note had transpired 
during the day, except the novelty of reindeer riding, 



AT BELUN. 161 

and I had learned the reason why dogs and deer cannot 
travel by the same road, which simply is that the dogs 
are so fierce they will attack and kill the latter. So, 
just before reaching Buruloch, when we sighted a dog- 
team approaching us in the distance, my driver turned 
our team up a bank, and conducted it into the woods, 
back of the road, stationing me with a huge stick to pre- 
vent the team from following him. But the dogs had 
seen the deer, and came howling on in hot pursuit, their 
driver doing his utmost to check them. Luckily the team 
was a very small one of only seven dogs, and, as they 
dashed into the path that we had taken, I struck the 
leading dog a blow across the head and back, which, 
ruffling his temper, caused him to turn round and attack 
his neighbor, and in an instant the whole team was em- 
broiled in a " free and easy." Leaving the driver to re- 
store peace, I rejoined my team five hundred yards or so 
to the rear, and shortly afterwards we drove into Buru- 
loch. 

Fire was leaping from the chimneys, and from the pe- 
culiar location and appearance of the huts, they forcibly 
reminded me of the cabins of the charcoal-burners. So 
soon as it was known that a stranger had arrived, all the 
inhabitants crowded to the hut of the starosti, crying 
out, " Tell me, tell me;" that is, " Tell me the news." 
Two Yakuts meeting, and while yet a considerable dis- 
tance apart, promptly start to hail each other with, " Tell 
me, tell me." In this manner, without knowledge of our 
civilized scandal-monger, the penny daily, do they pass 
the news along from one to another, and it is amusing 
to watch the sled parties encounter. Driving a little dis- 
tance past each other, they leisurely stake their dogs or 
deer, meet half-way, come to a full stop, take off their 
hoods and mittens, gaze solemnly at each other for a mo- 
ment, and then fall to kissing on cheek, forehead, or lips, 
according to age or kinship ; the men going through their 
11 



162 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

salutations before the women. They then replace their 
hoods and mittens, and, sitting down on the snow, draw 
forth their pipes, tobacco pouches, and flint, steel, and 
tinder bags, for a smoke, using a small quantity of to- 
bacco about the size of a little green pea, which, indeed, 
is an equal mixture of tobacco and bark or powdered 
wood. The small pipe-bowl is either of brass or pewter, 
and lashed to a wooden stem-piece, taper, and made in 
two parts for convenience ; since, having no means to 
bore a tube, they first fashion the stem on the outside, 
and, splitting it in two, cut a groove down the centre of 
each half and then lash the two together, — it being thus 
left easy to cleanse the stem. And when two old cronies 
meet on their journey ings, or when the native feels es- 
pecially well-disposed towards his spouse, he unwraps 
his pipe-stem, separates the parts, and then the two sit 
down for a social chat, cleansing the stem of nicotine by 
licking it with their tongues, after which the pieces are 
put together and fastened for a smoke. 

My reindeer driver repeated our story as he had heard 
it from Vasilli, and with a great show of surprise and 
sympathy I was, at length, fed and put to bed. There 
was present a Yakut copert, who very much fancied my 
rifle, and wished to empty a good portion of his pack for 
it, provided it had not been a breech-loader. He did not 
approve of the style, and thought the bore too large, but 
that the breech might be closed and a flint lock fitted on. 
I finally turned in to get rid of my trading tormentor, 
and was out early in the morning ready for the road. 

Madam was present, but the proprietor of the deer- 
teams could not be found. The poor woman was anxious 
to see me off, for my driver from the last station had in- 
formed her that I must travel forward without delay, 
and she was alarmed at my impatient and persistent de- 
mands to pi dome, coupled with some forcible, if not 
polite, expressions in rude Anglo-Saxon. Presently a 



AT BEL UN. 163 

driver with sleds and deer appeared on the scene, and 
we were soon dashing towards Belun. I left my hostess 
suckling a hulking big boy about five years old, who had 
thrust his head beneath his mother's deer-skin shirt for 
another pull at the life-giving element. This is a cus- 
tom among the Yakut women, to suckle their children 
until one pushes the other away from the breast, and 
very often two or three of different ages derive nourish- 
ment from the same source. 

It was almost dark when we approached the village of 
Belun. My driver rested his team a short distance from 
the village, and then with a grand flourish dashed into it 
and up to the starostfs, or public povarnia, a series of 
low huts attached to the public building, which was of 
more pretentious dimensions. As we drew up, the word 
was passed that a stranger had arrived, and immediately 
the people flocked around us. My driver told some of 
the loungers who I was, and where I wanted to go, 
whereupon several of them bustled ahead of me, and 
opened an outer door, but refrained from touching an 
inner one which opened into the apartment where were 
my two comrades, Nindemann and Noros. Pausing an 
instant, I pushed open the door, which was covered on 
one side with deer-skin, and on the other with woolen 
felting to keep out the cold. I was clothed as I had 
been when last seen by my comrades, save for the addi- 
tion of a light deer-skin shirt over my old jacket : and I 
remained silently standing for a brief spell in the apart- 
ment to see if Noros would recognize me. He stood up 
facing me, behind a rude table, not more than ten feet 
off, holding in one hand a loaf of black bread, which he 
was in the act of cutting with a sheath-knife when I en- 
tered. Nindemann was nowhere to be seen. A dim light 
straggled through an ice-glazed window in the rear of 
Noros, and to the left, around a fire in a small alcove, a 
number of Yakuts were cooking their supper. At my 



164 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

entrance Noros glanced up from his bread, but did not 
know me, and was about to resume operations on the 
loaf, when — 

" Halloa, Noros ! " said I. " How do you do ? " at the 
same time advancing towards him with outstretched 
hand. 

" My God ! Mr. Melville," he exclaimed, " are you 
alive ? " And then, Nindemann, hearing my voice, arose 
from a roughly made bed and cried out : — 

" We thought you were all dead, and that we were 
the only two left alive ; we were sure the * whale-boat's ' 
were all dead, and the ' second cutter's,' too." 

As soon as I could control my feelings, I told them 
that we of the whale-boat were all alive and well, and had 
mourned our comrades of the first and second cutters as 
lost ; that I had been trying to reach Belun for the pre- 
vious thirty days ; that it was my messenger, Kusma, 
whom they had met and who had carried their pencil 
message to me ; and that I had hurried forward immedi- 
ately upon its receipt, in order to obtain information of 
the whereabouts of De Long and party. At this we all 
broke down, Nindemann and Noros declaring that it was 
useless to search for their companions, who had died long 
ago ; that they had parted from them twenty-five days 
before, and for several days previous to their separation 
they had had absolutely nothing to eat, having subsisted 
on their skin clothing, and the alcohol, sweet-oil, and 
glycerine from the medical stores ; each man receiving 
but a couple of ounces of alcohol per day, with a tea- 
spoonful of oil or glycerine while either lasted ; and that 
finally, at parting, De Long had divided the alcohol 
equally around, and started them on a forced march 
along the west bank of the river to a settlement, distant, 
he supposed, about twenty-five miles. 

They told me of their great and many sufferings ; how 
they had eaten their dog, and managed to crawl along a 




1. Nindemann and Noros starting ahead in search of help. 2. The meeting between 
Melville and Nindemann and Noros. 3. Deer teams. 



AT BELUN. 165 

few yards at a time ; how Ericksen had died and been 
buried in the river ; and how De Long, seeing that his 
party could not struggle on in a body, had selected the 
best two men for travel, Nindemann and Iversen, but as 
Iversen had complained the day before of frost-bitten 
feet, Noros was detailed instead. Nindemann was in- 
structed to journey forward as rapidly as possible, keep- 
ing the west bank of the river, but if he found succor of 
any kind, to return to the party, who meanwhile would 
follow in his footsteps. He left them camped on the 
bank of a small river running northwest from one of the 
main branches, and followed the west bank to a great 
bay, when, true to his instructions, he continued around 
it to the westward, and thence in an easterly direction to 
the river proper, where it opens out from between the 
mountains into the wide bay which finally brought De 
Long and his party to a stand-still. 

This and a great deal more they told me, beginning 
again and again, from their landing on the shore of the 
Arctic Ocean to the time of their arrival at Belun. 
Nindemann had a short section of a chart which Mr. Col- 
lins had copied for him from the small chart in De Long's 
possession, and which I recognized as similar in part to 
my own copy. I then made from their description a 
rough map of the region north and south of De Long's 
probable position, as a guide for my search. It was out 
of the question for either Nindemann or Noros to accom- 
pany me ; for, leaving aside the difficulties of transpor- 
tation and food, both were so sick as to be barely able to 
walk, vomiting and purging violently, — the effects of 
having gorged themselves with some decayed fish refuse 
which they had found at a hut called Bulcour. They 
complained bitterly of the treatment they had received 
at the hands of the starosti and natives ; having been 
furnished with a very limited supply of black bread by 
the young priest of the village, and with nothing but 



166 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

smoke-dried fish, although there was plenty of fresh fish 
and venison to be had. 

I slept in the povarnia with my two comrades and a 
number of natives the first night ; but, before turning in, 
I started a telegram to the Secretary of the Navy, a copy 
of it to the United States Minister at St. Petersburg, 
and another to Mr. James Gordon Bennett. This mes- 
sage I first wrote out in English, and then, after a man- 
ner, translated for the young priest, who finally wrote it 
out in Russian. I then sealed it across the back with two 
feathers to indicate that it must fly, and saw the messen- 
ger off with it. Next day I diligently busied myself in 
adding to the comforts of my two sick companions. 
Noros had discovered a couple of good vacant huts in the 
village ; so together we visited the young priest, who 
said, however, that he was very poor, having given the 
two men all the provisions he could spare, and that he 
had no authority to compel others to do the same. He 
accompanied me to the vacant houses, but would not 
dare to enter them ; so I told him I would do as I pleased, 
the American government would pay, and that General 
Tschernaieff, the Governor-General of the district, was a 
soldier, and would not permit any soldiers of the United 
States to suffer. Whereupon I placed my shoulder against 
the door of a hut, and, bursting it open, invited him in. 
At first he was a little alarmed, saying the hut belonged 
to a rich copert, who might claim damages from him, but 
I allayed his fears by saying that I would be responsi- 
ble; and then calling upon the Yakut starosti, I told 
him that I must be furnished at once with pots, pans, 
kettles, and other housekeeping utensils for Nindemann 
and Noros, together with plenty of bread and venison for 
them to eat. I also ordered him to have a native haul 
wood and keep the fire going for the two sick men. 
Then, having attended to these and man}?- other kindred 
things, I finally, when the hut had been well warmed, 



AT BELUN. 167 

directed the men to take possession of it, and having seen 
them properly installed, I left them to the tender mercies 
of the women, who dropped in " to fix things," and ac- 
companied the young priest to the house of the old 
priest, who had prepared some dinner for me. 

I told my story to him as best I could, but, owing to 
the obscuration of his mind from a deep and long-con- 
tinued debauch, my task was a very difficult and thank- 
less one. However, he treated me kindly, and promised 
a reindeer the next day as food for myself and men. I 
now found myself becalmed, as it were, and unable to 
move until the return of Bieshoff, the Cossack command- 
ant, who alone had the authority to furnish me with the 
necessary outfit for my search for De Long and party. 
Nindemann told me that immediately upon his arrival at 
Belun he had prepared a message which he wished to 
have sent to the United States minister at St. Petersburg. 
Bieshoff said, " Yes, yes," took the message and put it 
in his pouch to carry to me. For Kusma had seen him 
meanwhile and informed him of myself and party, 
making in all eleven men ; and since Nindemann had 
spoken of De Long and party as a company of eleven, 
here was a coincidence strengthened by Kusma's refer- 
ence to me as " Captain," which had led Bieshoff to 
confound me with De Long and believe both parties to 
be one and the same. So he took Nindemann's message 
and hurried away to my relief at Jamaveloch, where 
he learned of my departure with the intention of inter- 
cepting him on the road. On his journey he had found 
so little snow on the mountains, that the reindeer teams 
he took with him would not be available for the trans- 
portation of the party, and so he sent them back to 
Belun. 

Nindemann's letter he gave to Mr. Danenhower, who 
apparently regarded it as a most important communica- 
tion, for he dispatched Bartlett with it to me at once, 



168 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

notwithstanding that I was then in personal contact with 
the man who wrote it. 

I was dining with the priest, when an old woman 
entered the house in a state of great excitement, and 
announced that another American had arrived in the 
village. I started immediately for the Balogan Ameri- 
canski, as our habitation was called, and there found 
Bartlett. To be sure I was pleased to see him, though 
disappointed to find none of the others with him, and 
particularly Bieshoff, whose assistance I so sorely needed 
in fitting out the relief expedition for my missing ship- 
mates ; although assured over and over again by Ninde- 
mann and Noros that they were dead, and that it would 
be useless and perilous to seek for their bodies before 
spring-time. But the reader may imagine my astonish- 
ment when, asking Bartlett what had occasioned his hot 
pursuit of me, he answered that Mr. Danenhower had 
forwarded him with Nindemann's old communication to 
the United States minister at St. Petersburg. 

So I had some additional conversation with Ninde- 
mann, finishing my written description of his journey 
after leaving De Long, and had almost completed my 
chart, when the starosti of the village and the young 
priest entered our hut, the latter bearing a letter, which, 
he said, had been written by Bieshoff, directing him to 
order the starosti to furnish me with two deer-sleds in 
order that I might meet him, Bieshoff, on the morrow or 
the day following at Buruloch, where, in the mean time, 
he would fit out two dog-sleds and guides to convey me 
north on the search for De Long. I had seen two of the 
three natives who had found Nindemann and Noros in the 
hut at Bulcour. One of them, Tomat Constantine, was 
Golivar Candidat (head candidate) of North Belun, and 
consequently a man of authority among his people ; and 
as he knew the location of Bulcour, and likewise of the 
hut described by Nindemann as the " place of the sleighs,'' 



AT BELUN. 169 

that is, a hut where a number of sleighs was stored, I 
selected him as one of my guides. 

I then prepared a letter to Mr. Danenhower, in which 
I directed him to take all the men as far south as 
Yakutsk, and there await my arrival ; but at the same 
time I told Bartlett to remain at Belun until I returned 
from my northern trip, saying that I would direct Mr. 
Danenhower verbally to leave him behind when he 
started for Yakutsk, in order that I might have some one 
to look me up if I failed to return to Belun within thirty 
days. And then bidding them all good-by, I left for 
Buruloch, where I arrived late that night; it having 
taken me nearly twelve hours to traverse the eighty 
versts, whereas I had previously made the distance in 
eight hours. For the snow had deepened and the winter 
storms had set fairly in. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
SEARCHING FOR DE LONG. 

Bieshoff. — Poor Jack Cole. — I start in quest of De Long. — At Ku 
Mark Surt again. — How to eat Raw Fish. — The Maiden with the 
Lively Tresses. — Buleour. — " The Place of the Three Crosses." — 
Sleeping in the Snow. — Mat Vay. — A Clue. 

When I arrived at Buruloch, my feet and legs had 
swollen to nearly double their healthy size, and the new 
skin had arisen in large blisters filled with water. I 
emptied them, and the old woman greased my legs with 
goose grease. Next morning I was up and out in good 
time, anxiously looking for the arrival of Bieshoff and 
my party. An hour or so before noon the yelping and 
baying of the dogs announced their coming, and soon I 
was being introduced to Bieshoff, a fine specimen of Cos- 
sack manhood, very large of stature, of a commanding 
presence and quiet demeanor. We had a general hand- 
shaking all around, and breakfast together ; and then, 
much to my sorrow, I learned for the first time that poor 
Jack Cole had become demented. He had apparently 
lost all trace of time and circumstance, asking me if I 
thought we would see the captain in a few days, and say- 
ing that he was tired of the strange, mysterious fellows 
who were in that country, and believed he would like to 
go and see the u old woman." At this time he was per- 
fectly tractable, although Mr. Danenhower told me that 
he had been occasionally obstinate, and that on the way 
from Jamaveloch it was with great difficulty he could be 



SEARCHING FOR DE LONG. 171 

kept on the sled, having once, indeed, dropped off quietly 
without any one missing him until they had gone a 
considerable distance, when driving back they found him 
lying in the snow. He had now become quite a charge, 
requiring one man's constant attention and care. I was 
not altogether unprepared for this, since I had noticed 
during the last few weeks that Jack had grown so fool- 
ish in the repairing of his clothes, needlessly wasting the 
thread and needles, that the sailors had taken those arti- 
cles away from him. 

I was delighted to meet again my good friend Vasilli 
Kool Gar, who had driven over one of the sleds from 
Jamaveloch ; and I hastened to secure him as one of my 
own drivers on the search. I had learned by this time 
that the limit of a dog-team's endurance is about ten 
days ; so Bieshoff set diligently about equipping me for 
that space of time, providing me with two teams of 
eleven dogs each, two drivers, and ten days' supply of 
food for all of us. With everything satisfactorily ar- 
ranged, and bidding good-by to my friends, who were to 
pass the night at Buruloch and proceed next morning to- 
wards Belun, Verkeransk, and Yakutsk, I set out for Ku 
Mark Surt, where that night I arrived and rested, full of 
hopes and fears for the future, — hoping for the best, yet 
fearing the worst. From Nindemann's story, I had very 
little hope, if any, of finding my comrades alive ; but, if 
dead, I might yet be able to prevent the destruction of 
their bodies by the few ravenous animals of these re- 
gions. 

My intention was to follow the back-track, if possible, 
until I came up with the party, dead or alive ; pursuing 
the west bank of the river to the northward, guided by 
the notes I had taken from my conversations with Nin- 
demann, until I arrived at the point on the Arctic Ocean 
where, after landing, they had made a cache of their 
books, papers, chronometers, and other articles. 



172 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

My old friends at Ku Mark Surt seemed pleased to 
see me, and I was doubly welcome because of a little 
salt that I brought from Belun. The old lady of the es- 
tablishment earnestly requested me to examine her son's 
paralyzed legs, in the hope that I might be able to cure 
or relieve him ; for she had been told that at Moscow, 
where the Czar was, he could be made whole and strong 
again. But I said he was now too old, I feared, the 
misfortune having occurred in his youth. They all un- 
derstood me very well, — 

" Baranchuck, bar, bar; mooshina, soak;" that is, "If 
a baby, yes, yes ; but a man, no." And all the family 
joined with the poor cripple in sighing out, " Mooshina, 
soak." After a supper of tea and boiled fish, we crawled 
into our berths, and were out of them early the next 
morning. While the members of the family busied them- 
selves in the preparation of breakfast, I had an oppor- 
tunity of witnessing some of their internal household 
economics. Such fish as were to be boiled were first 
thawed out before the fire, and then properly scaled, 
cleansed, cut in satisfactory lengths, and placed in a 
kettle near the fire, where they might simmer, but never 
be allowed to boil. Fish to be eaten raw are selected 
for their delicate fatness, and while hard-frozen briefly 
exposed to the heat and turned quickly so as to only 
thaw the skin. Then by a few dexterous cuts of the 
knife, the dorsal fin and a narrow strip of the belly-skin 
are removed, and the skin raised at the tail and cut up 
to or near the gills, when it is caught at the tail be- 
tween the teeth, and, with one jerk, peeled to the head, 
the opposite side of the fish sharing the same fate. 
These skins are cured, dried, and worked up into water- 
proof bags, wherein the natives store their tinder, shav- 
ings, and sleeping-gear, while traveling. 

The tea-kettle was put on, and several gallons of boil- 
ing water made ; the stranger's particular little tea-pot 



SEARCHING FOR DE LONG. 173 

being filled and a quantity of tea begged for the family. 
The raw, frozen fish were then cut down in thin slices ; 
the fat back and belly-pieces, however, being carved into 
short, thick morsels, and turned towards the guest as 
choice tid-bits of savory sweetness ; and with this dish 
the meal began. While breakfast was in course of prep- 
aration, I had noticed with interest that the natives, old 
and young, performed their morning ablutions by taking 
a large mouthful of water, spurting it into their hands, 
and then rubbing their faces, — the little chicks, four or 
five years old, along with the rest. Afterwards, the 
young lady of the household, aged fourteen or fifteen, 
began combing her jet-black tresses. The natives manu- 
facture their combs from the fossil ivory of the mam- 
moth, managing to turn out very creditable work, con- 
sidering their rude means — the ever-handy and useful 
sheath-knife, made in the shape of a single-edged dirk. 

I observed that the young lady, after letting down her 
hair, set about arranging on her lap a circular wooden 
platter or tray about eighteen inches in diameter, with 
an edge raised around it like the lid of a Yankee cheese- 
box. I likewise took notice that it was the veritable 
platter which had been used to hold the raw fish on my 
previous visit to the hut, and from which we had all 
eaten our food. Hair and lid properly adjusted for the 
combing, that operation began, and continued with an 
expertness only attainable by long practice. A down- 
ward stroke of the comb through the hair ; a sharp, 
short knock on the lap-board for the purpose of remov- 
ing any obstruction there might have been in the teeth 
of the comb, or of releasing, perhaps, any prisoner held 
in its narrow meshes; a circular sweep of the comb 
around the periphery of the lid towards its edge, with a 
partial sweep to the right and left, which brought any- 
thing that might have been there to the centre of the 
lid ; then a quick, decisive thrust with the flat portion of 



174 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the comb, which was apparently an effort to crush or 
blot out some creeping thing ; and finally, the remains 
being brushed into the fire where simmered our break- 
fast, the lid thus cleaned was ready for service as platter 
for the frozen sliced fish. These were heaped upon it, 
and all the male members of the family at once began 
the attack. It is needless to say that although I fur- 
nished the salt, still, on this occasion, I did not care for 
frozen fish, and held my appetite in check until the sec- 
ond course, of boiled fish ; for although there had been no 
lid on the pot, yet since the old woman had kept skim- 
ming off the scum which arose to the surface, it seemed 
likely to me that in doing so she had managed to rescue 
the hair or any other thing which may have fallen in. 

With breakfast over, the dogs were hitched, and we 
started on our journey in a blinding snow-storm. It was 
fifty-five versts to Bulcour, where Nindemann and Noros 
had been found ; old Tomat Constantine knew the place, 
and so there was no doubt of our ability to take up with 
the first landmark on our backward track. It is impos- 
sible for me to adequately describe our progress along 
the bed of the river ; crossing and recrossing it to find 
a path among the chevaux de frise of jammed ice ; 
tumbling over, upsetting, hauling, and pleading with the 
dogs, which, in turn, plead with each other in such a way 
as to make the fur fly. A strong westerly wind cut our 
faces, and it was very cold. My feet and legs had again 
begun to swell, until my moccasins grew tight to bursting. 

They did not pain me, for all feeling seemed to have 
forsaken them, but what troubled me most was that I 
had lost all control of them, and, being unable to stand 
up, much more to walk, I was forced to forego the exercise 
that would have prevented the blistering of my limbs, 
which comes of suppressed circulation, and consequently 
the tighter my moccasins became with the swelling, the 
more severe became the frost-bite, each additional chill 



SEARCHING FOR BE LONG. 175 

acting as a further check to the diffusion of blood. It 
was long after day when we arrived at Bulcour. The 
place consists of two huts and a store-house ; one of the 
huts being a balogan, and the other a palatka, — which 
have this difference, that the former is a frustum of a 
regular pyramid, from four to seven feet high, covered 
with earth, and having a hole in the centre of the top for 
the escape of smoke, etc., while the latter is a regular 
pyramid, with a square frame- work inside near the top, 
against which the poles rest, and through which the 
smoke finds an exit. A small river makes out into the 
Lena proper from the northwest, between steep banks 
probably a hundred yards apart, so steep as to be very 
difficult of ascent, and this, too, at an abrupt bend of the 
Lena, where it swerves from east northeast to north. 
The balogan is pitched on the northwest bank of this 
little stream, the palatka on the northeast, together with 
the detached store-house, which can be more properly 
described as a square box of ten or twelve feet, raised 
slightly above the ground on stilts or blocks. These two 
structures are nearest the main river, but are set so high 
up and far back that it is a wonder to me Nindemann 
and Noros saw them at all ; indeed, the men were on the 
point of returning to the " place of the sleighs," some 
twenty miles to the northward, there to lie down and 
die, when, going out on the bed of the river from under 
the bank, one of them descried the palatka and store- 
house, and, of course, they at once sought shelter there. 
This is one of the favorite fishing stations of the natives 
for certain runs of small fish. It was abandoned for the 
season, but the natives had left some of their nets and 
other gear behind ; and Nindemann and Noros had 
searched everywhere, without success, for food. In the 
store-house, however, they came upon a lot of mouldy 
fish, which the natives had pulverized and heated for the 
purpose of extracting the oil for their lamps, and though 



176 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

this refuse was decomposed and covered with mould, 
yet there was nothing else to be had ; the men had been 
long without food, having only caught a lemming, or tail- 
less rat, several days before, which they roasted and ate, 
hair and all ; so it was quite natural that they should 
try to satisfy their hunger with the fish offal, which 
would, at least, distend their empty stomachs. 

Accordingly they devoured a portion of the mess as they 
found it, and then starting a fire in the palatka, brewed 
some willow tea and warmed themselves. Afterwards 
they placed several large flat stones over the fire, on 
which to cook or heat the putrid mass, but it was not as 
palatable as when cold or frozen. A scarcity of wood 
compelled them to burn considerable of the interior wood- 
work of the hut, as well as an old canoe ; and they tar- 
ried here for a day or two, trying to recuperate their 
strength, and feeding on the offal, which soon sickened 
them so that they were fearful lest they should be dis- 
abled from continuing their journey. Summoning, there- 
fore, all their remaining powers of endurance, they 
filled their pouches and skull-caps with the rotten fish, 
and started forward towards the settlement which they 
had hoped to reach long before, but which was really 
fifty-five versts beyond. It was very cold, and a cruel 
wind was blowing, and, in a little while, Noros com- 
plained that he was so sick and weak from frequent purg- 
ing, vomiting, and previous exposure, that he could then 
proceed no further, and begged Nindemann to turn back 
for at least one day more. 

This they did, and while Nindemann was busy repair- 
ing his moccasins inside the hut, he heard a strange rus- 
tling noise without. Hunger had rendered their sense of 
hearing doubly keen, and Nindemann, thinking that a 
reindeer was at hand, seized his gun, charged it, and ap- 
proaching the door was about to peer out, when sud- 
denly it opened and he stood face to face with a Yakut. 



SEARCHING FOR BE LONG. 177 

Naturally his first impulse was to embrace his savior ; but 
that honest worthy seeing the mere spectre of a man, 
ragged, emaciated, frost-bitten, smoke-grimed, his face 
covered with scabs, and a gun held at "ready" in his 
hands, fell back in dismay, and sinking on his knees 
begged Nindemann not to shoot. To drop the gun and 
embrace the friendly visitor was the act of an instant, 
and then they drew him into their hut, — his hut, for 
it was Ivan Androsouff, the proprietor, who had left his 
nets in the store-house, waiting for the ice to make, and 
had then come to carry them with him on a fishing ex- 
cursion up one of the northwest discharges of the river. 

This lucky incident saved their lives, for, instead of 
recovering, they were wasting their little strength while 
feeding on the putrid fish, the condition of their bowels 
being such that they would soon have been unable to 
crawl. The Yakut was not a little -alarmed at his situa- 
tion, for he mistook the two men to be escaped exiles, 
whom it was his duty to capture, under penalty of being 
flogged. However, they made Ivan understand that they 
were very hungry, exhibiting the fish refuse of which 
they had been eating, and proffering him some ; but he 
turned aside in disgust, telling them to throw it away. 

Parleying a while, he signified that he would go off 
and return soon with assistance ; and ere they could col- 
lect their wits he held up three fingers and left them. 
When he had gone, Nindemann said he was in doubt 
whether the three fingers were intended to mean three 
miles, three hours, or three days ; and so he upbraided 
himself for having allowed the native to depart. Still, 
in several hours Ivan returned with two companions and 
a couple of deer-teams, and carried the men away to a 
hut in the woods, where there was a woman with chil- 
dren. Here they tried to make the natives comprehend 
that they had recently left the captain and party in a 
starving condition to the northward ; but with their own 

12 



178 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

sufferings and the remembrance of their comrades' sad 
lot, they completely broke down, and mingled their tears 
with those of the gentle-hearted natives, who, believing 
that the men were anxious to reach Belun, urged them 
to sleep first, and then, in the morning, they would all 
push forward. 

Next day they started for Belun, the worthy natives 
loaning them clothes for the journey. Poor Nindemann 
did his utmost to explain that they must go back and 
save the captain and party, but to no purpose ; the na- 
tives persisted in the belief that he desired to hurry on ; 
and it was during their progress to Belun that they en- 
countered Kusma, my messenger, returning to Jamave- 
loch. 

I was rejoiced to seek refuge in the palatka at Bal- 
cour. Our dogs were unable to scale the steep bank with 
the loaded sleds, so I crawled up on my hands and knees 
before the natives succeeded in elevating the teams. The 
wind had strengthened to almost a gale, and when the 
dogs had been staked on the leeward side of the hut, and 
fed, Tomat and Vasilli set diligently about, and soon had 
a fire blazing in the centre of the hut. They carried up 
ice from the river to use in boiling our tea and fish ; for 
the natives believe, with whalemen, that snow - water 
breeds scurvy ; and I have seen them travel more than a 
mile for ice, when there was an abundance of snow at 
hand. Soon we had our supper of hot tea and boiled fish, 
and I delighted my two companions by presenting each 
with a small lump of sugar, given to me by Bieshoff, and 
which neither used, but stored away for home use. As 
the hut warmed up, we hunted around among the ashes 
of the fire-place and found several little articles that had 
been left or lost by Nindemann and Noros ; and these 
fully identified the place, and satisfied me that I was now 
on the right trail. 

The numbness and insensibility of my legs shortly 



SEARCHING FOR BE LONG. 179 

gave way to the most excruciating pains. I withdrew 
my feet as far as possible from the fire, and thrust them 
into the snow which covered the floor of the hut, but 
without experiencing any relief. I dared not remove my 
moccasins, for the swelling had so increased that I feared 
lest I should not be able to get them on again. So all 
that night I rolled in agony on the floor, becoming so 
sick that I lost my supper. The wind raged without, 
and when morning dawned was still blowing so fiercely 
that the natives, taking a look at the weather, said, — 
" Pagoda, poorga ; pi dome, soak." 

There was no use kicking against the pricks ; neither 
man nor dog could face such a gale ; so we did the only 
other practicable thing, and abided its abatement, the 
natives lashing their sleds and repairing their dog har- 
ness. Thus the day was spent, and during the night the 
gale went down, subsiding so far that by morning we 
were again able to take to the road. The delay had not 
been altogether a loss, for I had been afforded an oppor- 
tunity to translate and talk over with the natives my 
written account of Nindemann's journey; and now our 
next objective point was the " Place of the Sleighs." 
Neither Tomat nor Vasilli had ever been there, but from 
my broken translation of Nindemann's description they 
understood pretty clearly about where I wanted to go. 
So, making an early start, we drove rapidly along, and 
at length reached the desired spot. It was a very small 
hut, devoid of door or cover to the smoke-hole, and con- 
sequently snowed in. I found fragments of the sleds, 
which Nindemann had broken up for fuel, and searched 
vainly about for a sign of any one having followed in his 
footsteps. Again we pushed on, this time for the three 
Bulehoi Grasses, three Propaldi Yakuts — the place 
where there were three dead Yakuts in cases raised on 
trestles, with three large crosses. The natives said there 
were many, many Yakuts pomeree and crass manorga ; 



180 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

but I made them understand that these were near an old 
hut on a high bank, and that there were two canoes (vi- 
atkas) and an old shed on the river. 

And so we pressed forward. Night came and found 
us yet on the snow, till, at length, the natives dug with 
their shovels a pit about seven feet square, and standing 
the sleds to the windward, in order to break the force of 
the gale and cause the snow to bound over us, drew forth 
some raw frozen fish, on which, cut down in thin slices, 
we regaled ourselves. The dogs being staked and fed, 
we then crawled into the pit and crept into our sleep- 
ing-bags, the few dogs which had been turned loose 
nestling warmly on top of us. For an hour or two we 
slept fairly well, but long before daylight we were so 
chilled that, for my part, I felt as though I could never 
stretch myself again. Indeed, as was often my experi- 
ence, when I first lay down I was very cold, but with 
my blood flowing freely and the heat of my body con- 
fined within the bag, I soon became quite warm and com- 
fortable, save at the feet, where, to be sure, I never suc- 
ceeded in inducing any heat. And so in a little while, 
overcome by the genial glow of my body, I fell into a 
deep sleep, dreaming of long, weary marches; and, as the 
snow sifted into the rents of my old battered sleeping- 
bag and thawed upon my neck or face, I brushed it off 
as though troubled by a persistent mosquito. But in 
the course of five or six hours, when camping thus, the 
limbs of the sleeper begin to cramp, his body is chilled, 
the snow has drifted up the sleeves and around the collar 
of his jacket, he grows restless, and finally awakes with 
a jump as though branded with a hot iron. For the 
snow has melted under his jacket, the bag and body are 
about freezing, the wet sleeve has indeed frozen fast to 
his bare wrist, and in his haste to remove the burning 
jacket from his irritated flesh, he tears off the blistered 
skin, leaving a raw spot to scab and fester and fill up 
with reindeer " feathers " (hairs). 



SEARCHING FOR BE LONG. 181 

So I was glad when day dawned. We leaped from the 
pit, shook out the snow from our clothes and sleeping- 
bags, and ate our morning meal of frozen fish, — the na- 
tives topping off with a smoke. Then when the sleds 
were packed, the poor dogs shaken out of their little 
heaps of snow and beaten, snapping and shivering, into 
line without any breakfast, another day's journey be- 
gan. Keeping the " west bank of the river on board," 
we carefully scanned every object as we proceeded, halt- 
ing at times to run at right angles with our course and 
look for a track or trace of any one coming from the 
northward, directed by the foot-prints of the two who 
had marched out of the jaws of death. Here and there 
we saw where they had plunged through the ice while 
it was yet young, but wherever the snow had fallen and 
drifted, there was no sign or trail to guide us. Darkness 
settled around us again, bringing with it another pit 
in the snow, and a second miserable night ; and in the 
morning after our frugal meal of raw fish, washed down 
with lukewarm tea brewed with difficulty over a fire 
built in the snow-bank, we resumed our journey. 

At one place we observed the footprints of two men 
crossing the gooba or bay, toward the east side and re- 
turning again. The imprints only showed where they 
had been made in the ice when it was fresh or leathery, 
though we occasionally saw them in the sand- spits, which 
had afterwards frozen hard ; and the snow, driven vio- 
lently by the wind, had swept across such exposed patches 
and lodged under the banks or piled up against the huge 
hummocks of ice with which the river was cumbered. 
Towards night we arrived at the place of the three crosses, 
and discovered the two old huts, canoes, and fishing shed, 
as described, together with the dead Yakuts stored away 
on their trestles in mid air. I could find the foot-prints 
of tw T o men in and around the huts, but no more. These 
structures, which were dilapidated and filled with snow, 



182 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

afforded not the slightest evidence of having been ten- 
anted since the sojourn of Nindemann and Noros. I was 
now nearly famished. The previous two nights had 
given me but little rest, and no renewal of vigor ; and 
even the cold fish seemed only to chill me. I asked the 
natives how far it was to Mat Vay ; twenty-five versts, 
they said ; and there we might have fire, shelter, hot tea, 
and hot fish; so, although it was far into the night, I 
gave the order : " Pi dome, Mat Vay." 

I had now followed up their tracks to where Ninde- 
mann and Noros said they came upon the first huts they 
had found after leaving De Long ; and as I had stuck 
steadily to the west bank of the river, there could be no 
mistake. I had therefore concluded to stop at Mat Vay 
with the intention of renewing on the morrow my search 
over the shoals which we had traversed all day, to the 
Stolb or Stolboi, one of Nindemann's most prominent 
landmarks. We hurried on through the dark, I knew 
not how, save that we still clung to the west bank, and 
long after midnight brought up at a hut. Then, so 
torpid that I could barely move or speak, I sat down in 
the snow until the natives had opened the door of the 
hut, when, crawling into it on my hands and knees, I 
cried out for agoime, agoime ! (fire, fire). 

Presently one was blazing warmly on the hearth, and 
then I noticed by its glare that though the door of the 
hut had been properly banked up with snow, yet the 
boards used to cover the smoke-hole had not been re- 
placed, and, as a consequence, the hut was nearly filled 
with snow. But as the fire burned more brightly and 
lit up the room, I was particularly surprised at the un- 
usual arrangement of the bed of sticks, to which I drew 
the attention of the natives, saying, " Yakut soak." 
They looked very grave, shook their heads, and iterated 
" Soak " (no) ; and then, pointing to the open roof and 
snow, added, " Americanski." • 



SEARCHING FOR DE LONG. 183 

Now, indeed, was I charmed ; for I felt that I had 
found the new trail. Nindemann and Noros had assured 
me that they had not seen or entered a hut until they 
arrived as far south as " The Crosses," nor slept in one 
till they reached the "Place of the Sleighs;" and the 
peculiarity in the arrangement of the sticks which at- 
tracted my attention was, that they had been removed 
from the ground around the three sides of the hut, ac- 
cording to the custom of the Yakuts, and arranged in the 
bed form adopted by the North American Indians, with 
the feet towards the fire, and a log for the head. So it 
occurred to me at once that a second party, in all proba- 
bility Alexia, had been sent ahead by De Long to follow 
up Nindemann ; that coming upon this hut, and being 
unable to open the door, he had dropped down through 
the smoke - hole, and here passed the night ; and that 
when leaving he had neglected to cover the hole in the 
roof, an oversight of which no Yakut would have been 
guilty. 

A further search revealed no record or other evidence ; 
and so, when we had readjusted the sticks Yakut fashion, 
and supped, we turned in, — I to dream that I had found 
the first clue of De Long. 



CHAPTER XIV. 
LOSING THE TRAIL. 

Treachery. — I make a Cannibalistic Threat. — Cass Carta. — A 
Late Supper of Deer Hoofs and Horns. — Benumbed. — Another 
Night in the Snow. — " Balogan Soak."— North Belun. — I 
dive into a Hut and "receive." — Two Precious Bumagas. — A 
Yakut Bride. — Sleeping in Close Quarters. — An Ignoble Econ- 
omy. — Definite Tidings. 

Next morning I noticed that the natives talked a 
great deal between themselves, and upon my urging 
them to be more active, packed their sleds with consider- 
able discontent and mystery ; conversing the while in 
whispers as though fearful of my overhearing them. 
Finally, when we were about to start and I had left the 
hut, Tomat, who had returned to see that everything 
was taken from it, reappeared, his face aglow, and pre- 
sented me with a leather belt, saying that he had found 
it in the hut. A glance at the great copper buckle of 
homely make told me that the belt had been made on 
board the Jeannette ; so I reentered the hut and insti- 
tuted a more thorough examination, shoveling out all of 
the snow, but to no purpose. I was now, however, more 
fully convinced than before that a second party sent out 
by De Long had been there. So jumping upon the sled 
I ordered the natives to skaree (hurry up) ! 

They both looked at me for an instant, afraid to speak, 
and then Tomat found voice enough to say, — " Soak, 
soak!" 

Turning to Vasilli, who stood back, I inquired, — 
" Kack soak " (why not) ? 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 185 

" Cushat soak" (nothing to eat), both replied. 

" Bar, bar, cushat manorga," I said. 

But they insisted, "Ballook soak, olane soak; savaccas 
propaldi" (no fish, no deer; the dogs would break down). 

I was astounded. BieshofT had told me that he had 
furnished food for ten days, and here it was all gone in 
four. I instantly suspected that the Yakuts, losing heart, 
were playing me false, and so caused them to unload 
their sleds of everything ; but no food was brought to 
light. Yet I had full confidence in Bieshoff, and so it 
occurred to me that the natives, afraid to proceed fur- 
ther, had robbed me of the fish and buried them at Bul- 
cour, or one of the snow camps. 

The very thought enraged me. To turn back now 
that I had struck a new trail was impossible. The two 
natives seemed stolid, while Tomat jabbered away at a 
lively rate. I seized his great staff and dealt him a stag- 
gering blow, whereupon Vasilli took to his heels, and 
poor Tomat, dazed and frightened, in trying to do like- 
wise, fell down and retreated on his hands and knees, 
while I followed him up with the iron-shod stake. So 
crippled was I, however, that they soon distanced me ; 
though I had succeeded in cowing them, and that was 
all I wished. Yet, as they started off, the dogs jumped 
in pursuit, but, luckily for me, were staked fast. Then 
fearing lest the natives might desert me altogether, I 
seized and loaded my gun, and shouting " Fintofki, fin- 
tofki!" discharged it after them. The bullet went whist- 
ling over their heads, and at the report both natives fell 
on their faces, then turning round on their knees, began 
crossing themselves in terror, and making such low 
obeisance that their noses dipped in the snow. 

I beckoned them to approach, at the same time re- 
loading the gun and seizing the staff. They returned 
very contrite, but beseeching, " Masta soak; masta soak " 
(no stick ; no stick) ; and then fell to pleading with me 



186 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

on the danger of traveling farther. We had no food, 
either for ourselves or dogs. 

" Olane soak, ballook soak, savaccas pomree, too poni- 
ree, kack pomree " (no deer meat, no fish, the dogs die, 
we all die, why die?). Then, too, "Car manorga, pa- 
goda poorga, manorga" (snow and gales of wind in abun- 
dance). "And," they argued, "you can find your dead 
comrades in the spring-time when the snow is gone;" 
and placing their staves upon the ground they blew and 
scraped and covered them with snow, to show me how it 
had buried in my friends. Then catching me around the 
neck they cast themselves upon the snow and feigned to 
die ; old Vasilli afterwards acting the wolf or fox which, 
he signified, would certainly come and eat us. 

Meanwhile I had somewhat recovered from my heat 
at the sudden exhaustion of our provisions, and now in- 
quired the distance to the nearest village. " Two hun- 
dred and fifty versts," they announced, after counting by 
tens on their fingers. In what direction was it ? They 
laid down their staves, pointing them northwest, and 
said, " Sever zaputh." Then I firmly demanded, — 

"Pi dome, skaree, Sever Belun, balogan Tomat" 
(hasten to North Belun, to the house of Tomat). 

Almost stupefied, they looked at me again as though 
to assure themselves that I was not crazy, and then burst 
forth into remonstrances. " There was nothing to eat, 
and we would all die; I was lame, and trembling with 
cold, and must surely succumb." Sitting on the sled 
with my gun in hand, I only replied, — 

"Savaccas cushat, cushat manorga, Kack too, Yakut 
cushat ! " 

At this they crossed themselves, glanced at each other, 
and, seeing that I was inexorable, prepared to start, mur- 
muring repeatedly my words, "Yakut cushat, Yakut 
cushat." For they had only smiled when I said that I 
would eat the dogs, of which there were plenty; but 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 187 

when I threatened to eat them too, they were entirely 
overcome, and eyed me askance. 

But, setting out, I took a survey of the river and shoal 
in front of us, and then directed the natives to follow 
along the west bank of the main branch in Nindemann's 
reported tracks. But the river here takes a long turn to 
the westward, and there are numerous streams making 
out into the north around from the west by way of north, 
and finally to the eastward, where the largest branch is 
in sight, though there were more than a dozen headlands 
to be seen on the bay, each indicating the outlet of a 
great river. We had gone but a little distance when we 
came upon a few old huts, which I stopped to examine, 
but they yielded me no information ; so we continued on 
our journey without interruption until late that night, 
when we halted at a place called Cass Carta (Goose 
Place), where there were two good huts and a couple of 
store-houses. 

During our day's progress, I was convinced that we 
had left the trail, owing fco the unusual number of huts 
we had seen ; albeit Nindemann had informed me of the 
many old and new huts he had noticed while with De 
Long. Arrived at Cass Carta, however, I was assured 
beyond doubt of my having lost the scent ; for, we found 
and ate a lot of offal in the huts, which De Long and 
party, had they come that way, would most certainly 
not have despised. This windfall consisted of some deer 
bones with tendons and a little ragged meat attached, — 
a few of the leg bones having hoofs on them, which we 
roasted in the fire, and, as the heels softened, pared read- 
ily with our knives and pronounced capital. We also 
found the antlers of deer, which had been killed while 
the horns were yet in the velvet, and these, porous as 
pumice stone, and filled with blood, the natives pounded 
with their axes into a meal, and this we ate and found 
pleasant. There was nothing for the dogs ; but they 



188 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

had been turned adrift, and since Cass Carta in season is 
a good goose-hunting station, I noticed that they had all 
managed to pick up goose skins, feathers, wings, feet, 
etc., which had been thrown away the preceding summer. 
But they were very weak and foot-sore, some barely able 
to stagger along out of harness ; and a few of these had, 
indeed, been cut loose and left to follow the team as best 
they could, or die by the road. 

Our hot tea and warm hut were comforts, however, 
glorified by the fierce storm which blew in the night. 
I was eager to reach North Belun, where I expected to 
procure fresh supplies of dogs and food, in order to fol- 
low the main river as far south as the point from which 
I started ; and, if I failed in my object, to then return to 
Belun and fit out an expedition to continue the search in 
the spring. I was now so badly lamed as to be utterly 
unable to stand up without assistance ; but I urged an 
early start from Cass Carta, with a view to reaching 
Koogoolak that day. A veritable gale was blowing, 
fortunately across our path and not in our faces, and the 
drifting snow almost obscured the leading dogs. We 
moved along very slowly; the teams were completely 
fagged out, and when night overtook us I felt, as we 
floundered aimlessly about in the snow, that it made lit- 
tle difference to me whether I lived or died, if I could 
only sleep. The dogs crept on at such a snail's pace 
that I could readily lie down on top of the sled without 
danger of falling off; and should this happen Vasilli 
would certainly miss me. 

Finally the natives came to the conclusion that they 
had better camp and get me into my sleeping-bag ; for 
they seemed highly alarmed at my drowsiness, and soon 
I was cozy and warm and fast asleep in the land of snow 
and tundra. 

We were up with the starlight and under way again. 
I had scarcely dozed, it seemed, as we struggled along 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 189 

against the furious storm. The natives' faces were blis- 
tered and sore ; the dogs simply able to move, and no 
more ; and our outlook was gloomy, indeed. I repeatedly 
asked Vasilli how soon we would come to the next hut, 
and he as often answered, " In a little while," pointing 
ahead with his dog-staff, as though the hut was just beyond 
the hill. But day faded into dusk, and darkness again 
intervened, and I almost despaired of living. At each of 
our more frequent halts to rest the worn-out teams, the 
natives would place their hands upon me and say some- 
thing. I answered their calls by asking for a halogan ; 
and they continued to assure me, " Yes, yes, a little way, 
a little while ; " until, at last, when they came to tell me 
of the imaginary halogan, I fiercely cried out " Balogan 
soak." 

Doubtless, after that, they believed it unwise to con- 
tend with me, for they abandoned me to myself, ap- 
parently reasoning that there could be no danger of so 
obstinate a man dying, even of hunger or cold ; and, for- 
sooth, they were somewhat warranted in supposing from 
my short, snappish " soak, — soak," supplemented by 
choice expletives selected at random from my own rich 
mother tongue, of which they knew nothing, but the es- 
sential import of which they eventually divined from the 
usual vehemence of my delivery, that I would yet keep 
for some time to come. Finally, long after midnight, 
Vasilli shook me, and exclaimed, " Balogan, manor, balo- 
gan ! " He received the usual rejoinder ; but, notwith- 
standing, tried to set me up on end, repeating, " Da, da, 
agoime " (yes, yes, fire), and the teams had stopped, so 
I looked up, and, sure enough, right beside me, flames 
were issuing from a snow-bank. So, at least, it ap- 
peared, for, although the huts are built upon the level 
ground, yet they are so covered and buried in by succes- 
sive snows that before midwinter the dog-teams run di- 
rectly over them, sled and all, sniffing the savory fumes 



190 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

of goose or fish which float out of the chimneys. Hence 
the ground-floor of the hut sinks farther out of sight at 
each additional increment of snow, until it is anywhere 
from four to five feet below the grade-level ; and so it 
becomes necessary, in order to keep the door- way clear, 
and enter or issue from the balogan, to form or cut out a 
series of steps in the snow. 

At sight of the red cheerful sparks shooting up from 
the cold, white waste, and the glare from the nearest 
door-way, in which native women, alarmed by the bark- 
ing of the dogs, stood holding lighted sticks or flambeaux 
to guide us into the hut, my spirits revived, and I sat up 
on the sled. Tomat and Vasilli helped me to my feet 
with the intention of assisting me down the cellar- way, 
but suddenly the dogs, not yet staked, seeing the bright 
future ahead of them, bolted. Naturally, the natives let 
go of me and sprang for their teams. Unpropped on a 
useless pair of legs, I swayed back and forth for a mo- 
ment, and then fell forward on my face and hands ; but 
the next instant began crawling towards the brilliant 
door-way, where the women stood holding torches above 
their unkempt heads and dark faces, while they gazed in 
wonder at the strange object which approached them on 
hands and knees. Arrived at the top of the snow stair- 
case or pit, I first tried to turn about and back down the 
steps in an orderly manner, but growing impatient at 
the prolonged and cold proceeding, I all of a sudden shot 
forward head first, and losing, of course, control of my 
movements, rolled unceremoniously in at the feet of the 
startled women, who drew back and surveyed me with 
elevated torches, crying in Yakut, "Who, who, tell, 
tell I " My reply in good, plain English only increased 
their dismay, — "How are you, girls?" and then hold- 
ing my hands toward them, I indicated my desire to be 
helped into the hut. 

Seeing that I was a white man and spoke a strange 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 191 

tongue, they stood back for an instant, and then, taking 
courage at sight of my helpless condition and scarred and 
frost-bitten face, two of them advanced, and, while others 
lighted more torches or sticks, assisted me through the 
low door-ways of the outer apartments into a large, well- 
arranged, and comfortable balogan. It was floored, of 
fair height, and around the three sides were the usual 
berths or stalls, while a large fire-place, its chimney well 
plastered with mud, stood almost in the centre of the 
room, and flashed forth light and heat from its capacious 
jaws. 

I was conducted to the customary guest corner under 
the icon ; and the women then fell back for a better sur- 
vey of the stranger. Meanwhile the news of my arrival 
had spread through the village, and already the gossips 
were pouring into the hut. The women at once busied 
themselves in the removal of my outer garments, jacket, 
trousers, boots, etc., since all articles of fur are kept in 
another and cool apartment, in order to preserve them. 
I myself had thrown off my mittens and cap upon enter- 
ing ; and now Vasilli and Tomat came in carrying my 
sleeping-bag and other traps. They told the people who 
I was, and informed them of my errand, seeming to ex- 
cite a great deal of sympathy by the relation ; for, gaz- 
ing at my frozen and puffed-up hands, the natives, full 
of curiosity and concern, broke into a clamor of excla- 
mations and questions, — " Ah, oh ! Is it possible ! 
Verily!" 

Presently I began to feel the effects of the heat ; my 
sluggish blood began to circulate more freely, and went 
pulsing painfully through my frozen limbs ; and when the 
women, ignorant of my condition, took hold of the top of 
the moccasins to pull them off, they also partially peeled 
the skin and scabs from my legs until they bled, and I 
cried out in agony. The poor creatures started back as 
though struck, while the rest crowded around and craned 



192 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

their necks to have a look at the bleeding, hair-matted 
sores ; weeping, and saying, " Poor white man ! he suf- 
fered from the cold." The women next used their knives, 
and, ripping the outer seams of the moccasins, removed 
them as gently as possible, leaving the hair of the fur 
stockings sticking in the wounds ; and then all held a 
consultation over the frozen limbs, which, after consider- 
able controversy and wagging of heads, were given a 
bath by pouring water over them ; and, when dried, they 
were finally smeared with goose grease, which was not at 
all pleasant to the eye or nose. 

By this time I was seized with an uncontrollable 
drowsiness, and, notwithstanding the babbling of tongues 
about me, fell into a sound sleep, from which I volunta- 
rily awoke, at length, to find myself carefully covered up 
with the furs of the natives. I had neither bandages, 
nor material to make the same, for my legs and feet ; so 
I set the women at work on a pair of mufflers, and, not 
knowing the proper name, called them " noogie recovit- 
sas " (foot-mittens). The natives tendered me a pair of 
reindeer coat-sleeves as temporary coverings for my legs, 
and I then " received." A more motley or odoriferous 
crowd of mortals I never saw packed within so small a 
space. On a table placed in front of me, at the edge of 
the berth, hot tea and raw frozen fish were served, amaz- 
ingly to the delight of all of us, and afterwards we en- 
joyed a kettle of boiled fish and soup, or, rather, the hot 
water from the fish, which, anyhow, was nourishing and 
pleasant. 

When supper was over, the crowd made way for a 
rather fine - looking young man, who came forward to 
where I was, and, bowing very low, said, " Drastie, dras- 
tie ! " at the same time handing me a small paper (bu- 
maga). Eagerly unfolding it, I read : — 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 193 

Arctic Exploring Steamer Jeannette. 

At a Hut on the Lena Delta, believed to be near 

Tch-ol-booje, Lat. — , Lon. — . 

Thursday, 22d Sept., 1881. 
Whoever finds this paper is requested to forward it to the 
Secretary of the Navy, with a note of the time and place at 
which it was found. 

Here followed a brief statement of the Jeannette's 
voyage and loss, our march over the ice, and separation 
in the gale. The paper then related the landing of the 
first cutter, and continued : — 

On Monday, September 19, we left a pile of our effects near 
the beach, erecting a long pole. There will be found navigat- 
ing instruments, chronometer, ships' log - books for two years, 
tent, medicines, &c, which we were absolutely unable to carry. 
It took us forty-eight hours to make these twelve miles, owing 
to our disabled men, and the two huts seemed to me a good 
place to stop while I pushed forward the surgeon and Ninde- 
mann to get relief for us. But last night we shot two reindeer, 
which gives us abundance of food for the present, and we have 
seen so many more that anxiety for the future is relieved. As 
soon as our three sick men can walk, we shall resume our search 
for a settlement on the Lena River. 

Saturday, September 2Uh, 8 A. m. — Our three lame men be- 
ing now able to walk, we are about to resume our journey, with 
two days' rations deer meat, and two days' rations pemmican, 
and three lbs. tea. George W. De Long, 

Lieutenant Commanding. 

When I had finished reading the paper, I turned to 
the young man, whose name, he said, was La Kentie 
Shamoola, and asked where he had found it. At a hut, 
he replied, called Ballok, on the east bank of the river 
(Oshee Lena), about fifty-five versts east of North Be- 
lun. Here I was in luck, and still more so when an old 
woman, who now came forward, searched down in the in- 
ner recesses of her bosom, and at last drew forth a second 

13 



194 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

paper, which proved to be another record left by De Long 
at a hut called Osoktok, about 70 versts to the south- 
east of the village, and a little south of Ballok. It read 
as follows : — 

At a Hut, Lena Delta, 
About 12 miles from head of Delta, 

Monday, September 26th, 1881. 
Fourteen of the officers and men of the U. S. Arctic steamer 
Jeannette reached this place last evening, and are proceeding to 
the southward this morning. A more complete record will be 
found in a tinder case hung up in a hut fifteen miles further up 
the right bank of the larger stream. 

George W. De Long, 

Lieut. Commanding. 
P. A. Surgeon J. M. Ambler, 
Mr. J. J. Collins. 

W. F. Nindemann, N. Iversen, 

H. H. Ericksen, A. Gortz, 

H. H. Kaack, A. Dressier, 

G. W. Boyd, Ah Sam, 

W. Lee, L. P. Noros. 

Alexia, 

The natives now told me that there was yet another 
paper in the possession of the neighboring village, and 
also a fintofki, or gun, which had been picked up still 
further to the southward on the east bank of the river, 
at a hut known as " Usterda," about ninety versts distant, 
south southeast (youke malinhi ostolc). Here I produced 
my chart, and by dint of much explanation hammered 
its meaning into the thick heads of the wise men of the 
village ; getting them, at length, to agree that at Usterda 
there was a branch of the river which ran east or east by 
north. I then made them understand that at this place 
De Long and party had halted four days, and then 
crossed the river to the westward and traveled south to 
a small hut on the west bank, where they camped for 
several days, and buried one of their number in the river; 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 195 

and the little old hut was about twenty versts Youke 
from Usterda. 

To all of this the natives gave their approval, and 
traced out on the chart the course from North or Upper 
Belun to Ballok, Osoktok, Usterda, and thence across 
the river, and south to the Malinhi Starry Balogan 
(Little Old Hut) ; and said that if I would wait a day 
or two the other paper (bumaga) and gun would be 
brought to me. They were horrified when I told them 
of Ericksen's burial in the river, and shuddered at the 
thought of the fish eating his flesh. The hut in which I 
was stopping belonged to Tomat Constantine, and was 
inhabited by his wife and children, including a married 
son and wife, and the customary quota of aunts, blind 
pensioners, etc., who filled up the berths, while many 
others occupied the sleeping space on the floor. 

The young son had just been married; that is, he had 
but recently come into possession of his bride ; for it is a 
custom in this section of Siberia for the bride and groom 
to separate immediately after the marriage ceremony and 
live apart with their respective parents until one year 
has elapsed. She had lately joined him in all the glory 
of her wedding outfit, made from the fine fur of the 
young fawn, checkered and strapped and covered with 
peculiar bead-work; interlaced and woven with curiously 
colored strips of leather ; and patched around the bottom 
of the skirt and up the front with fur. 

A funny leather belt with buckle confined the dress 
under her arms, for she had no waist ; and her head was 
graced with a jaunty band bedecked with beads and 
spangles. She was pretty after her kind, plump and 
round, rather mischievous, and never idle a moment from 
teasing her young mate, who was very modest and shy, 
but apparently very fond of her. Tomat introduced her 
to me as the jonah of his brat, the wife of his son ; but 
she quickly wriggled away from her father-in-law, and 



196 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

returned to torture her spouse ; and presently ended her 
blandishments, coaxing, and love-making, by pulling off 
his boots as well as assisting him in the removal of other 
of his outer garments ; and then, rolling the blushing 
youth into his little bed, she finally let fall the greasy 
calico curtain which shielded their love from our vulgar 
gaze. 

It was nearly dawn before the other inmates of the 
hut settled to rest, all tarrying to see the stranger crawl 
into his sleeping-bag, when those without berths spread 
their skins upon the floor ; and I then saw the old lady 
arrange the fire, and going out on top of the roof put 
several boards over the chimney, by means of which, to 
be sure, she kept the heat in the hut, but at the same 
time cut off the pure air from a mass of forty naked, 
unwashed and greasy sleepers of all ages compressed 
within a floor space of perhaps fourteen by twenty -two 
feet ! And the atmosphere — directly it became inde- 
scribable. Nevertheless we all slept, and in the morning 
turned out to find the storm still raging furiously. 

It was amusing to watch the natives yawning them- 
selves into wakefulness. Many scenes were too ludi- 
crous, if not peculiar, for me to recount to ears or eyes 
polite. The regular morning mouth bath was performed 
by all hands, after which they went through their relig- 
ious drill before the icon. An iron dipper full of water 
was then brought by one of the sons, who poured the 
stream into my hands while I washed and afterwards 
dried before the fire. Breakfast was soon served, consist- 
ing of hot tea, sliced frozen fish, and a pot of boiled fish 
and venison. Each stranger, visitor, or member of the 
family, I noticed, had his or her separate little pot of 
tea and fish. The children were well-behaved ; and the 
mother prepared the hot dishes, while the husband sliced 
the raw fish with his sheath-knife. And here is a noble 
economy : the body of the fish which remains after being 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 197 

pared to the bone from head to tail is invariabty given to 
the woman, while his lordship eats of the fair and fat 
slices, the few scraps that may be left being divided be- 
tween woman and children. Similarly, when the boiled 
fish has been eaten and the bones picked clean, woman 
and children go sucking over them again, rarely a profit- 
able expedition ; and if there should chance by some 
windfall to be "full and plenty" in the hut, then can 
the poor old blind mammy and granny who live behind 
the chimney hope for a first pick at the bones, but not 
before. It is here as in all barbarous countries : the 
woman is slave to the man ; she does all the household 
work, carries the wood, makes and repairs the clothing, 
dresses the skins, assists in hauling the fish and game, 
and in making and repairing the nets, beside bearing the 
children. 

The weather was so violent, that I had fears of the 
success of my messenger, who had been dispatched for 
the gun and record, as promised. While awaiting his re- 
turn, I questioned the natives and made myself conver- 
sant with the state of the country, its people, game, etc. 
Tomat's eldest son, it appeared, had first found the gun 
and given it to the starosti of the village for safe-keep- 
ing. I made a sketch of it, much to his surprise and de- 
light; and then to further identify the gun before its 
arrival, he cut with his knife a curling spiral shaving 
from a stick of wood to represent the spring which is 
fitted under the barrel of a Winchester rifle, and showed 
me how he had unscrewed the cap and the spring had 
jumped out of its tube. It was now well understood 
among the natives that I was searching for a party of 
twelve lost men, who in all probability had died of cold 
and hunger ; and it was here that they inquired of me 
why De Long and men had not come to their village, 
inasmuch as it could be seen from the Oshee Lena with 
the naked eye, and very plainly with the aid of glasses ; 



198 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the natives suiting the action to the words by looking 
through their fists in imitation of field-glasses. It was 
here, too, that Tomat told me of there being twenty- 
three head of reindeer cached or staked on trestle-work 
about sixteen versts to the westward of Usterda, where 
De Long and party had camped, but on the opposite 
side of the river, which, at this point, is in the neighbor- 
hood of a thousand yards wide and five or six fathoms 
deep. Yet without means of crossing it, — their at- 
tempts at rafting having proved abortive, — it is doubt- 
ful if they saw the cache at all, since when pointed out 
to me it was barely visible on the horizon ; and even 
though De Long did discern it, after the repeated disap- 
pointments he had met with in visiting vacant huts along 
the line of retreat, he would scarcely be justified in trav- 
eling twelve miles to examine into the nature of a black 
object which looked as much like a hillock of earth as 
aught else in creation ; not to speak of the fast-running 
river which intervened. 

The natives said the records and gun had been in their 
possession about twenty days. When the ice had made 
hard they had journeyed along the river bank towards 
their homes, and had noticed the little sled-track and 
many foot-prints in the snow, but were puzzled to know 
by whom they had been made, fearing at first that some 
ruffianly band of freebooters or fugitive exiles had come 
that way. They found that many of their traps had 
been torn up and used for fire-wood, and, at last, upon 
arriving at the huts, they had looked in and discovered 
the records and gun, along with some small articles of 
clothing which had been cast off or. lost. It was with 
difficulty I could persuade them that poor De Long and 
his poverty - stricken band knew absolutely nothing of 
the location of North Belun, much less of the venison 
cache. And, indeed, it is most pitiful to think how un- 
consciously near they were to salvation. Alas ! if some 



LOSING THE TRAIL. 199 

misfortune, which would have proven such good fortune, 
had only detained them ten days longer in these huts, 
to be succored by the natives ! It happened otherwise, 
however; and waiting four days until the river froze, 
they carefully picked their way across it, hauling poor 
Ericksen on a sled, and then keeping along the west 
bank they traveled towards the south, in the hope, as 
the record said, of reaching a settlement, — a hope that 
soon turned to despair and ended in the agonies of a 
cruel death. 

It was during the progress of my interview with the 
natives, conducted by the combined means of pantomime, 
diagram, and what few Yakut, Tunguse, and Russian 
words I could muster, that the messenger made his ap- 
pearance, accompanied by one of the roughest looking 
criminal # exiles I ever saw. The starosti brought the 
gun and third record, which proved to be in regular se- 
quence and of considerable importance. It read as fol- 
lows : — 

" Saturday, October 1, 1881. 
" Fourteen of the officers and men of the U. S. Arctic 
steamer Jeannette reached this hut on Wednesday, September 
28th, and having been forced to wait for the river to freeze 
over, are proceeding to cross over to the west side this A. m., 
on their journey to reach some settlement on the Lena River. 
We have two days' provisions, but having been fortunate enough 
thus far to get game in our pressing needs, we have no fear for 
the future. 

Our party are all well, except one man, Ericksen, whose 
toes have been amputated in consequence of frost-bite. Other 
records will be found in several huts on the east side of this 
river, along which we have come from the northward. 
George W. De Long, 
Lieutenant IT. S. Navy, Commanding Expedition* 
P. A. Surgeon Ambler, 
Mr. J. J. Collins," etc., etc. 

This was definite and pleasing information for me. I 



200 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

now had as a guide De Long's authentic narrative telling 
me the place of bis landing on the shore of the Arctic 
Ocean, where he had cached his -goods about three miles 
to the eastward of the main river ; how he had visited 
the three huts in succession, of whose location I was fully- 
apprised ; and as for the rest, I could rely upon my writ- 
ten notes of Nindemann's story. 

So I immediately determined to first visit the shore of 
the ocean and secure the log-books, chronometer, naviga- 
tion box, sextant, and other articles of value belonging to 
the expedition, then return by way of Ballok, Osoktok, 
and Usterda, crossing the river where De Long did, and 
finally follow the west bank until I came up with the 
party dead or alive. 



CHAPTER XV. 
A TRIP TO THE ARCTIC SHORE. 

Ballok. — The "Boos Byral." — The Cache. — I am Hoodwinked 
again. — Topographical Revelations. — Myacks. — Our Despised 
"Mock " and " Tas." — A Coveted Demijohn. — Phadee Achin. 

The women had made a large pair of deer-skin muf- 
flers for my feet, which, as well as my legs, were entirely 
too sore and swollen to allow of my resuming the mocca- 
sins. I had also contracted for a new deer-skin coat and 
pair of trousers, which materially added to my comfort ; 
and I now engaged three dog-teams with drivers, and ar- 
ranged for a ten days' supply of fish. In the morning 
I limped out to the sleds, and watched the process of 
counting the fish for our journey, mistrusting the hon- 
esty of the natives by reason of the imposition practiced 
upon me by Vasilli and Tomat. I then returned to the 
hut, and as soon as my skin clothing could be donned, 
bade good-by to my friendly hostess and her neighbors, 
and set out with the three sleds, driven by La Kentie 
Shamoola, Tomat, and Kerick ; old Vasilli, discharged 
with thanks, having gone home. 

The weather was propitious, the dogs fresh and strong, 
and with a light breeze on our backs we fairly flew along, 
passing a small cemetery containing some forty or more 
graves marked with crosses ; and by dusk we had arrived 
at Ballok, resting in the first hut which sheltered De 
Long and his men. I found in the ashes a knife-blade, 
some pieces of vials or broken glass, and other little arti- 



202 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

cles attesting their presence. The hut was partially 
filled with snow, which the natives cleared, and building 
a fire cooked our supper of fish ; when we all turned in, 
and were out the next morning bright and early. I then 
read and explained to my attendants what the first rec- 
ord said, that to the northward on the shore of the ocean 
we would find a cache, over which a great pole (bulchoi 
masta) was erected as a landmark ; and the natives mar- 
veled greatly that not having been there I could yet 
know all about it. 

Following the east bank of the river to the north, we 
at length came upon the green, heavy massed-up ice of 
the ocean, and the natives, imitating the rolling of the 
sea, cried " Boos byral ! " and handed me a lump of the 
ice to taste, saying "Tooshe, tooshe ! " (salt, salt.) I 
then turned to the eastward, and after running for nearly 
an hour, finally espied the tall flag-staff, and pointed it 
out to the natives, who could scarcely contain themselves 
in their anxiety to see what was buried there. Arrived 
at the cache, I had it uncovered, and then exhumed from 
the snow every article it contained, much to the wonder 
and delight of my drivers, who had never before seen 
so much plunder in one heap, and who were especially 
tickled with the two guns. I loaded all the relics on the 
sleds, save one long, heavy steering-oar, and the flag-pole, 
which I left standing. The boat was nowhere to be seen, 
though I looked for it carefully along the shore ; but since 
the ice was so jammed up, I reached the conclusion that 
it had been crushed and submerged, or, perhaps, snowed 
over. The discovery of it was of no consequence what- 
ever, so far as finding the party or relics was concerned, 
but then I wished to remove every vestige of their land- 
ing, in order that no future searchers might be misled or 
hampered in their progress. For this reason I carried 
away all the old sleeping-bags, clothing, etc., with the 
intention of destroying the useless articles, or giving 



A TRIP TO THE ARCTIC SHORE. 203 

them to the natives at the village, with instructions to 
keep them there. 

I returned to Ballok, well satisfied with my day's work, 
and, after a supper of hot tea and boiled fish, fell asleep, 
in the hope of following on the morrow the track as far 
south as Osoktok. I slept soundly in my bag, reclining 
on a bed of soft snow, and when morning broke was 
ready and eager for the road ; my feet and legs drying 
and healing rapidly, save where the deer hair had matted 
under the sores, for my loose mufflers were soft and 
warm. I now observed that the natives were having 
another secret consultation, and, at length, when I was 
ready to start, and told them to pi dome, designating the 
course we would pursue, they promptly refused to go. 
" Why not ? " I asked. " There was no food," they said. 
This dumfounded me, for I had certainly seen a fish 
supply for ten days loaded on the sled. Old Tomat had 
been involved in a scrape of this kind before, and now 
edged past me towards the door of the hut. I saw his 
movement, and seizing a billet of wood began to belabor 
La Kentie, and the young son of the starosti. The 
former was a great, dignified sort of person, and unac- 
customed to this kind of treatment ; but as the blows fell 
thick and fast he beat a precipitate retreat, scrambling 
all over me in his haste to reach the door. I followed 
quickly, gun in hand, shouting, " Fintofki, fintofki ! " in 
fear that they might desert me altogether. Old Tomat, 
well pleased at his escape from punishment, stood in the 
middle distance, laughing heartily at the discomfiture of 
his friends. La Kentie was sullen, hurt in feelings as 
well as body, and did not relish the fun which Tomat 
was poking at him ; while Kerick, the starostVs young 
son, stood rubbing in dismay that part of his person 
which he had presented to me as a target when leaving 
the hut on all-fours. I called them to me, but as La 
Kentie exhibited some unwillingness to obey, I lowered 



204 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the gun and fired as I had before at Mat Vay. It had 
exactly the same effect. They all dropped on their 
knees and faces, going through their religious exercises 
at a great rate. Old Tomat took refuge behind La 
Kentie, and lied abominably, saying that " La Kentie 
had stolen the fish, not he, who, indeed, knew nothing at 
all about it." 

However, I summoned them to me, promising not to 
beat them, and then learned that the villagers had filched 
the fish from our sleds, and returned them to the differ- 
ent store-houses ; because, they explained, I had appropri- 
ated all the fish in the village, and there had been a fam- 
ine in that section of the country, eighty of their dogs 
having starved to death, and that if I had carried off the 
fish the women and children would have died; whereupon 
they compressed their stomachs and made hollow their 
cheeks. What could I do but swallow my vexation and 
return to the village ? 

We started back in a driving snow-storm, which luck- 
ily blew from the eastward and against our backs. The 
dogs were already weak from hunger, although they had 
been out but three days, yet, as I have mentioned else- 
where, the natives never work their teams, if they can 
avoid it, two days in succession. So we staggered along 
at a snail's pace, and it was night before we reached 
North Belun, having consumed nine hours on the jour- 
ney, whereas on our outward trip we had accomplished 
the same distance in six. I was surprised at the number 
of rivers we had crossed in going from Upper Belun to 
Ballok ; for on my chart (a copy of Petermann's, by far 
the most reliable known at the time of the Jeannette's 
sailing) only three main branches of the Lena were laid 
down. So on our way back I counted the rivers, inquir- 
ing of La Kentie as we crossed each frozen stream, " Kack 
Oshee ? " (river) ; or " Ku mark ? " (dirt) ; to which he 
would reply, " Da, da," or " Bar" (yes) ; or « Soak " (no), 



A TRIP TO THE ARCTIC SHORE. 205 

as the case might be. We crossed thirteen streams, sev- 
eral of which were as wide, though perhaps not as deep, 
as the main branch, along which De Long had marched ; 
so it can be imagined of what value our charts were to 
us, which located within this space of forty miles but two 
streams. While at Ballok and on our way to the ocean, 
I had diligently inquired of the natives the situation of 
"Sagastyr," but they knew nothing of such a place. 
They told me, however, of Barchuck, and the many old 
huts at Barkin, but said that no one had lived at the lat- 
ter place for years. Still they were confident of the non- 
existence of " Sagastyr" or " Signalthorp." I was so 
particular about establishing this fact because Nindemann 
had informed me that when Erichsen was buried, there 
had been a signal station in sight, which De Long be- 
lieved to be the " Signalthorp " marked on Petermann's 
chart. But the natives took the trouble to show me a 
dozen or more of their signal stations, which they erect 
for the purpose of guiding them when benighted or lost 
in storms. As they journey across the Delta, they halt 
at every myack (finger-post or pointer) and examine 
it, recutting the post-marks, when necessary, with their 
knives, adjusting a new pointer, or setting up a triangle 
which has tumbled down. The triangular myack consists 
of two short sticks supporting a longer stick which either 
indicates a point of the compass or points toward a par- 
ticular hut or village. These pointers have certain marks 
cut in them, the significance of which is generally under- 
stood by the natives, and I have seen them, lost in the 
snow, drive aimlessly around almost in a circle, until they 
found a myack; when, taking a fresh start, guided by 
the direction of the wind or furrows of snow, they would 
successfully reach their destination. 

The whole village turned out to witness our dejected 
return, and many hands carried the treasure-trove into 
the hut of Tomat Constantine. I selected every article 



206 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

of any value to the expedition or government, and gave 
the residue, which comprised a lot of old sleeping-bags, 
clothing, an old cook-stove or fire-pot, and some useless 
rope and canvas, to Tomat and La Kentie Shamoolaas 
part payment for their services. Among the packages 
which I made up to carry back with me to Belun was a 
tin box of nearly a cubic foot capacity, filled with rock 
specimens, mosses, etc., from Bennett Island, and when 
I set it carefully to one side I saw the natives first peer 
into the box, then pick over its contents, and after some 
chattering among themselves, finally burst forth into a 
loud guffaw at the idiocy of a man who, upon the point 
of starvation, proposed to incumber himself on a long 
journey with a load of worthless stones. I could plainly 
hear their contemptuous comment on the mock and tas ; 
until, at length, to make sure that he understood me 
aright, Tomat inquired a second time if I really meant 
to carry them to Belun, and upon my replying in the 
affirmative he impatiently cast the box among the other 
articles with a look of supreme disgust, admonishing me 
at the same time that the dogs and sleds would assuredly 
propaldi (break down). 

Amongst the things I had brought away from the cache 
were a demijohn and breaker, containing some alcohol. 
The natives soon learned that I had the spirits, and all 
congregated around in the hope of having a spree. But 
not knowing how the devil would act if I turned him 
adrift among such crude material, I flatly refused to lis- 
ten to Tomat's entreaties for "just a little." " It was 
only good for fire," I told them, showing how it burned 
in the alcohol stove, but still they coaxed and begged, 
until I saw a young man seize the demijohn and bolt 
with it. I caught him before he reached the door, and 
snatching the demijohn from his lips struck him with it, 
spilling the alcohol over the floor, whereupon he quickly 
got down on his stomach and eagerly lapped up the pre- 



A TRIP TO THE ARCTIC SHORE. 207 

cious fluid. I exhibited considerable anger at the young 
fellow's forwardness ; and then emptied the contents of 
the wicker-covered vessel into the fire-place and among 
the ashes of the hearth, where it took fire and burned 
for a long while, greatly to the sorrow and dismay of 
poor To mat and his friends. 

Before retiring that night, I arranged for the necessary 
teams to convey me to Belun. La Kentie and Kerick 
had all the experience they desired, while Tomat, though 
obliged to return to Belun, had not enough dogs for the 
journey, and yet, as I was compelled to find drivers in 
order that the teams could be returned to Upper Belun, 
Tomat became a passenger on my hands. A bright 
young chap named Geordi Nicolai (George Nicholas) vol- 
unteered his own services and those of a fine team of dogs 
which he had managed to gather together. Geordi had 
been decently reared for a native (and I always found, 
that those who had been well-fed and nurtured were infi- 
nitely superior to their groveling fellows) ; he was intel- 
ligent and thoroughly acquainted with the road, and, as 
it transpired, I liked him so well that on my second 
search for De Long I hired him again. My next driver 
was a half-breed Tunguse, named Phadee Achin, square- 
jawed, square-headed, and resolute. There was not a scin- 
tilla of nonsense in his composition ; he ate his fish, bones 
and all, and digested them, too. His face even then was 
covered with blisters and sores, his cheek-bones were raw, 
his complexion was a peculiar livid blue, and his lips 
were black. Full-chested, square-shouldered, and clean 
in the flanks, he was taller by far than any Yakut I had 
seen on the Delta. 

Yet I was not so much struck by his face, however 
comical, as by the peculiarity of his name when he intro- 
duced himself as " Phadee." " Good," said I, " Paddy, 
you 've got a first-rate name ; " and I certainly thought 
it a queer coincidence, for he had all the air and tout en- 



208 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

semble of a large-boned, stalwart, but dark-skinned Irish- 
man ; and I became morally convinced of the fact that 
in the long ago some adventurous Celt had forced his 
way into these lonely, frozen regions. So I engaged 
Phadee, who talked in monosyllables. How many dogs 
had he ? Eleven, he replied, holding up his fingers. 
When could he start ? Now. Had he any food for him- 
self or team ? No. How did he expect to live ? I asked, 
using the words " Cushat soak ? v His only answer was 
a repetition of my query, " Cushat soak " (nothing to 
eat). " And so," I thought, " my man, if you can stand 
it, so can I." 

But the two sleds, it was plain, were not enough to 
transport all my baggage ; and so it became necessary to 
hire a third team to assist us part way, at least, and return 
when, from fatigue or want of food, it could go no far- 
ther. To fill this place an old fellow named Starry Nic- 
olai (Old Nicholas) was recommended to me, as a man 
who had walked all the way from the shore of the Arctic 
Ocean to Belun without anything to eat, and in the dead 
of winter ; the narration of which exploit he indorsed as 
correct by simply adding "Verna" (truly). He was 
very poor as well as old, and had no team, but the vil- 
lagers promised to furnish him with seven dogs ; and so 
with everything in readiness, — except, indeed, the rather 
important item of food, which the natives assured me 
would be provided in good time, — I at last sought my 
berth. The wind had almost increased to a hurricane 
when we turned in for the night, and long before dawn 
was howling in fury. I dreaded that it might prevent 
our departure, but nevertheless dressed and prepared to 
start, eating a hearty breakfast of raw and cooked fish. 
Tomat came to me and said, " Pagoda, poorga, pi dome 
soak." But I had been outside and was not so certain ; 
the wind nearly carried me off my feet, to be sure ; but 
then it was from the northwest, and, pointing in that 




,m^b" 



eserted 




THE LENA DELTA 

SHOWING THE ROUTES TAKEN AFTER LAND- 
ING, AND BY THE SEARCH PARTIES. 



123 longitude 124 East 125 from 



A TRIP TO THE ARCTIC SHORE. 209 

direction, I told him so. Still, as he shook his head and 
persisted in repeating " Pi dome soak," I could do noth- 
ing but acquiesce. 

Yet I was very anxious to be off, feeling confident 
that if I could rightly strike De Long's trail, I would 
shortly find him and party, doubtless dead, in some hut 
or crevice in the river bank. But then I must search at 
once before the valleys became entirely filled with snow ; 
for it was only possible that the party would or could 
erect flag-poles to attract the attention of rescuers or 
passers-by. I scarcely expected to find them alive, my 
only hope being that they had fallen in, like Nindemann 
and Noros, with natives; yet they had journeyed along 
about midway between Arii, the nearest village to 
the southeast, and North Belun, the nearest one to the 
northwest. At least, I might be in time to rescue their 
bodies from the mutilations of wild beasts, and to secure 
our valuable records ; for the face of the country clearly 
showed me that if I was delayed until spring all trace of 
my unfortunate comrades would be swept away by the 
floods, which at that season of the year completely sub- 
merge the Delta, and leave as driftwood great logs as 
large as ship-spars, some deposited on tundra beds forty 
feet above the river. When breakfast was over, Geordi 
Nicolai came in and firmly said, — 

" Poorga, periscomb soak ; sarsun " (gale, walk no ; 
to-morrow). 

But presently " Paddy" made his solemn appearance, 
armed cap-a-pie for a battle with the storm ; head-gear, 
gloves, dog-stake, and all. He had already come some 
little distance, and was, I feared, about to sanction a 
postponement of our departure; so I hastily addressed 
him, — 

" Pi dome, Paddy ? " said I. 

" Pi dome," he assented, without changing counte- 
nance. 

14 



210 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Tomat put in a vigorous protest ; but as Starry Nico- 
lai had meanwhile arrived in evident preparation for the 
journey, though, it is true, strongly inclined to belie his 
looks and take sides with old Tomat, I felt, reinforced 
by Paddy, considerably in the majority, and so gave the 
peremptory order to " Skaree, pi dome" (make haste, 
go on). 



CHAPTER XVI. 

STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 

Daring the Storm. — The Suffering of the Dogs. — At Macha. — 
" Ballook soak ! " — Foot-Prints. — Straying. — Sister Ganak. — 
Odorous Offal for Supper. — Remorseless Weather. — Qu Vina. 

— More Offal. — Vos Crusina. — A Bone Cache. — River Bergs. 

— Seeking Refuge in the Snow. — Breakfasting on Putrid Deer 
Bones. 

We set out in a tempest of snow, laying our course 
for Osoktok, where De Long's second record had been 
found. Had it only been snowing our discomfort would 
have been comparatively slight; but the wind blew 
fiercely, veering from northwest to north, and ere long to 
east, full in our faces. The dogs were poor, the sleds 
overladen, and old Tomat kept croaking dismally that it 
would storm for ten days. I rather regretted having 
forced the natives out, for they disliked to face the wind, 
as did the dogs, which refused to follow the course, low- 
ering their heads and turning clear around to avoid the 
cutting blasts. This consequently made trouble for the 
drivers, and I almost despaired of pulling through ; the 
dogs howled in unison with the storm, and the natives 
kept time with their cudgels. " Paddy " graphically de- 
scribed the situation to me, as he clambered upon the 
sled, after clearing the harness and hauling his team 
into line for the hundredth time, — 

" Savaccas a mooshina, poorga booda " (dogs and men 
are alike), said he, placing his forefinger at the bridge of 
his nose, or where it meets the forehead ; " poorga pom- 



212 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

ree." By which he meant that the wind striking them 
between the eyes would kill both. And he was right ; a 
cold gale first produces pains in the head, then drowsi- 
ness, and lastly the sleep which knows no waking. 

We toiled patiently on, and long after the time when 
we should have reached Osoktok brought up at a little 
old hut, or rather its ruins. The natives had driven to 
it merely as a landmark, and to take a breathing spell. 
It was impossible to get inside, so we all sat down under 
its lee in the snow. The natives smoked and then 
lunched on several raw fish, laughing at my refusal to 
join them ; for I looked forward to a hot meal at Osok- 
tok, where, considerably past midnight, we arrived, al- 
most exhausted by our tiresome journey. The dogs were 
so fatigued that, as soon as staked, they coiled up and fell 
asleep without even looking for their accustomed fish; 
and, indeed, it was just as well, for there was nothing to 
give them. I was pleased to notice upon our arrival a tall 
staff with an arm attached, pointing towards the deer 
cache which one of Tomat's sons had described to me. 

The door and roof being far from tight, the hut was 
partially filled with snow. This we leveled off, spread 
our beds, cleared the fire-place, and in a little while soft- 
ened before a kettle of hot fish and a pot of tea. All 
this time I was supposing that the natives had brought 
fish or food of some kind along for themselves; but, jolly 
devils that they were, my bag of ten fish had, according 
to their custom of sharing supplies while on the road, 
been the only store from which they drew ; and as they 
had previously eaten two raw, and now helped themselves 
to two more while the pot was boiling, only three fish 
remained, and this was our first day's journey. Yet I 
then imagined that but one fish had gone into the pot as 
my contribution to the meal, and so ate on in peace, as 
also did they. I afterwards searched the hut for any 
small articles which De Long's party might have aban- 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 213 

doned or lost; but found nothing beyond some deer 
bones, the hide of which, one of the natives told me, had 
been picked up. 

A restful sleep, and betimes in the morning we were 
out and on again. I observed that my dusky compan- 
ions refrained from their frozen fish, and that our kettle 
of hot fish was smaller than before; yet as there was 
plenty I did not care. The wind and snow still raged 
and drifted, and the miserable dogs yelped and shivered 
from hunger and cold. They seemed more like wild 
wolves than domestic animals, in their mad impatience 
to be off, though some were almost too weak to stand up. 
Following the bed of the river, we pushed on against the 
storm, now fairly in our teeth, and so thick that it ob- 
scured the leading dogs ; which at length, utterly over- 
come, lay down, and howling wearily refused to move. 
The natives then took turns at putting a drag-rope over 
their shoulders and pulling the leaders along, while the 
rest of the teams were beaten into motion. I could do 
little else than sit on my sled and shout out encourage- 
ment. Our situation was serious indeed ; four hundred 
versts intervened between us and the nearest succor, Ku 
Mark Surt ; and the natives assured me that such storms 
continued for ten days or two weeks. If this was no ex- 
ception, we would certainly be snowed in ; for should 
our twenty-nine dogs entirely succumb, the natives could 
not possibly drag the sleds, since even now, with both 
laboring at the harness, we could barely worry along. 
At any rate we must make the distance of fifty versts 
between Osoktok and Usterda as one day's journey; and 
so we did, reaching the hut long after midnight. It was 
pitched on a point of land between the Lena and a 
branch running up into the northeast, called Obi Bute 
Yaisia ; but when the natives looked in they found it 
full of snow, so we kept on to Macha, a hut about a mile 
below or just beyond the mouth of the northeast branch. 



214 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

This was comparatively new, weather-tight, and warm, 
and soon we were seated around a good fire sipping our 
hot tea. The natives, I noticed, went without their usual 
feed of frozen fish, and were dilatory in preparing sup- 
per ; so I told Tomat to put on the kettle of fish. 

" Ballook soak," said he. 

" What ! " I cried in astonishment. He only shrugged 
his shoulders, and extended his open palms, repeating 
with genuine sorrow, " Ballook soak." 

Knowing they were all right as long as my fish lasted, 
and with no concern for the future, the rascals had hast- 
ened to consume my provisions without giving me a 
thought ; and now when I accused Tomat of the theft 
he simply pointed to Paddy and lied, saying he believed 
them to belong to him, whereupon Paddy passed the lie 
to Geordi, and so it went around, all fibbing in the fat* 
uous manner of children instead of manfully ascribing 
their duplicity to a pardonable necessity. And there the 
matter rested. I curled myself up in my sleeping-bag 
and went supperless to bed ; but not to rest ; for, though 
not very hungry, I was very tired, and the old pains, 
revived by the heat of the hut, were again biting and 
gnawing at my legs. No new blisters had appeared, and 
the sores were healing, but yet my agony was terrible, 
and I tossed about craving to lie in the snow, until, at 
last, I fell asleep from pure exhaustion. 

After our hot tea in the morning, the natives dug 
around among the heaps of rubbish in search of offal, 
but there was not a scrap or sign to be found. The 
half dead dogs were then dragged from their beds of 
snow, and back we started towards the hut at Usterda ; 
for it was my intention to cross the river where De Long 
did, and then, as he had done, keep along the west bank, 
in the hope of reaching a settlement. Accordingly, I 
searched about the hut, and then followed the foot-prints 
of the unfortunate party, and the track of the sled on 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 215 

which they had hauled Ericksen. This was quite plain 
on the ice of the river, for the fierce gales had swept it 
clean of snow, and when the party had crossed over the 
runners had cut deeply into the soft young ice. I also 
saw where one of their number had sounded the ice, or 
had punched holes in it with a pike or staff ; and again 
where more than one had broken through, and in their 
flurry to get out had plunged in again or oftener, and 
only escaped by retreating. 

Once over the river, I turned to the southward, round- 
ing the bend, and thence on to a high bank, where the 
party's foot-prints had been plainly frozen in the soft 
snow. I now proposed to pursue these tracks until I 
came to the little old hut, which, Nindemann had told 
me, they reached after a slow march of two days ; the 
place at which Ericksen had become too sick to be moved, 
and where, waiting until he died, they had buried him in 
the river. It should properly be distant about twenty 
versts, and when I explained to the natives where I 
wanted to go, they said they knew its location. So we 
struggled along all day, and at length came to a hut 
which agreed with Nindemann's description ; at least, in 
its distance from Usterda. He had said, however, that 
when Ericksen was buried they had cut an inscription in 
a board, which had previously served them as a table, 
and had placed it over the door of the hut, leaving, 
beside, a gun and some ammunition there. I made a 
thorough examination of the place, casting out the snow, 
but neither board, gun, nor any evidence of the party's 
presence there could I find. 

Evidently I had lost the trail, but how I could not un- 
derstand. There was no doubt of my having followed 
the main branch of the river, and certainly I had stuck 
to the west bank ; so where was the mistake ? Shortly 
after leaving Usterda I had noticed that the river took a 
great bend to the westward, and had then inquired of the 



216 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

natives if that was the Oshee Lena and whether it led to 
Mat Vay ; and upon their assurance that such was the 
case, I had kept on, finding subsequently that the main 
branch turned again to the southward, and, farther on, 
to the southeast. I now asked the natives if they knew 
of any other huts on the west bank. Yes, but they were 
a long way off, or far to the westward of the river. Yet 
they did know of one close at hand on the east bank. 

Now it occurred to me as quite probable that Ninde- 
mann had become confused and mistaken, or forgotten 
the exact location of the hut ; for the whole Delta is 
nothing but a congregation of islands ; and it was on one 
of these, in sight of a tall signal staff, and some trestle- 
work which they had taken for a signal station, that 
Ericksen, according to Nindemann's account, had died. 
This was a clue for me ; but as soon as I took the natives 
into my confidence, they straightway found me a dozen 
signal poles. I therefore concluded to try the hut on 
the east bank of the main river. Slowly we crept on, 
the poor dogs staggering with weakness, and the natives 
trudging along without a murmur ; while chilled to the 
bone, I sat on my sled in a kind of dreamy torpor, with 
no other feeling than that of hunger. We halted at 
last before a hut, and looking above the door I saw there 
was no board, and knew that we had only been straying 
farther from the trail. The natives, dropping inside 
through the smoke-hole, hunted about but found noth- 
ing, and as the hut was charged with snow we could not 
sleep there. 

It was not far, the natives said, to a place called 
Sister Ganak, so thither we directed the weary teams. 
Paddy's face grew longer at each step, as he coaxed and 
cudgeled the dogs by turns, and occasionally paused to 
quarrel with old Tomat for not working as diligently as 
himself. It seemed an interminable journey; the tem- 
pest strove to overwhelm us before we could reach 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 217 

shelter; and I, benumbed and half-famished, saw nothing 
towards the end but a wild white sheet dashing inces- 
santly at us, until, finally, a hut loomed up, and shortly 
afterwards I was seated within it before a roaring fire. 
The place was roomy and comfortably free from snow, 
and warmed up by our hot tea and the cheerful flames 
we soon forgot the day's misery. Searching around, the 
natives discovered some fish entrails, a number of dried 
fish heads strung on a reed for use as bait in fox-traps, 
and some reindeer bones with shreds of meat or tendons 
left on the legs and haunches. These things satisfied me 
that De Long's party marched in another direction, for 
certainly they were not in a condition to reject even such 
offal. We roasted the bones and fish heads in the fire 
by means of a stick, and I would have relished them had 
it not been for the vile odor they gave forth. The 
natives put on their kettle and made a compound soup 
of all the refuse they could find in the ash heap; and 
they seemed as happy as though the pangs of hunger had 
never assailed them. Not so our wretched dogs, which 
howled piteously throughout the night ; though Paddy 
set free his two leaders and permitted them to scratch in 
the ash heap for whatever bones or bits we had (?) over- 
looked. 

Would the storm never cease ! I asked the natives 
how far it was to the next station or hut on the river, 
and they said forty versts ; from which to Mat Vay it 
was seventy more. A glorious prospect, indeed : nearly 
three hundred versts to the nearest settlement ; remorse- 
less weather; not a mouthful to eat; ourselves half- 
frozen ; and our dogs, upon whom alone we could depend* 
for rescue, already on the verge of death. When morn- 
ing broke in wrath, it seemed that the tempest had only 
rested during the night to gather fresh force for the 
coming day. A pot of tea for our breakfast, and then, 
though the natives begged hard for a day's rest, I insisted 



218 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

upon continuing the journey forty versts to Qu Vina, the 
next hut. They demurred ; the dogs could not possibly 
proceed further without food or rest ; but here I explained 
to them the necessity of pushing on, promising to stop 
and recuperate at Qu Vina for one day ; and so at length 
they yielded an unwilling consent. Again we faced the 
storm, weaker and hungrier. My legs, however, in their 
loose warm mittens, had so healed that I was gradually 
regaining the use of them, and could manage, when the 
dogs went slow enough, to stumble along at the side of 
the sled with my hand on the rail. The day's march 
differed in nowise from the preceding ones, unless in 
the increased feebleness of our poor dogs, which limped 
painfully on, exacting more and more aid from the 
drivers. 

The snow was now so deep that at times the dogs were 
buried and almost useless, wallowing helplessly about in 
their harness. They would labor for a few minutes after 
a long breathing spell, and then, when the sleds stuck 
fast, would lie spiritlessly down, howling and yelping as 
if in expectation of a beating. And so we struggled and 
rested, and struggled on again, each time as though it 
were our last pull for life ; and it seemed to me that the 
terrible journey would have no end. Now and then, 
discouraged, I would decide to cache the relics at the 
first safe place we came to, returning for them when I 
could ; but after a moment's reflection, recalling how 
persistently we had clung to these treasures, — the rec- 
ords and valuable accumulations of our two years of toil 
and suffering, — and setting my teeth against the storm, 
I would swear a new oath to carry them through, let come 
what might. 

From our limited knowledge of the country, as well as 
from my lost faith in our charts, I still had hopes of find- 
ing my lost comrades dead or alive. The natives, with 
whom I now could converse quite intelligibly, told me 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 219 

that the river which we were following led to Mat Vay, 
and was the west branch ; hence I felt assured that even 
if De Long had abandoned it he must eventually have 
returned to it again, as I had followed Nindemann's 
track as far north as Mat Vay, and there found the 
Jeannette waist-belt ; for I did not suspect that there 
were a dozen rivers to the east of me along which he 
might have marched ; and yet that he had really left 
the branch I was pursuing was evident alone from the 
amount of offal which we had discovered in the huts ; 
and then, too, we had come upon no trace of him after 
leaving Ustercla. Nor was this made clear to me until 
five months afterwards, when, returning on my second 
search accompanied by Nindemann, I first conducted 
him across the river at Usterda, and then on down the 
west bank to where the river takes a great turn to the 
westward, and was surprised to have him assert, " Here, 
sir, we recrossed the river to the eastward, and stood 
away down to the southward and eastward." 

And this was the cause of my losing the trail, though, 
of course, I had no means then of knowing it ; but now 
in looking back, I can readily understand how easy and 
natural it was for De Long to make such a mistake. 
The river veered to the westward. He did not wish to 
go west, but south, and consequently recrossed it. Then 
again on his chart, as indeed on all charts, just about 
where he imagined himself to be, is marked a large 
branch, which flows almost as far west as the river Ala- 
nek, and he doubtless believed this to be the main west- 
ern branch, and that in recrossing it he was on his way 
south to a settlement. 

The days were very short, the sun having forsaken us 
when I quit Jamaveloch to go to Belun ; so it had been 
pitch dark for many hours ere we drew up at Qu Vina, 
This was an old hunting lodge belonging to Tomat, and 
was in a bad state of preservation, yet I cannot remember 



220 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

that the sight of any dwelling has ever filled me with 
half as much joy as my first glimpse of it. For I was 
exhausted to the verge of fainting, and frozen to com- 
plete numbness or dumbness, since I was conscious only 
of acting mechanically. I was awake and aware of all 
that was transpiring around me, but had lost all feel- 
ing and power of speech, and existed like an animated 
dead man. I lay on the sled until a fire could be started, 
and meanwhile, as the natives went back and forth, I saw 
their jaws working, and knew from their unnatural man- 
ner of talking that they had found something to eat. 
Crawling in on my hands and knees I secured a position 
near the fire, the snow which covered the unboarded 
floor forming a soft bed for me, and, although there were 
a few berths raised around the sides of the hut, I fell 
asleep where I lay. 

When the natives had housed our sleeping-gear and 
arranged matters for the night, they awoke me to par- 
take of the supper which they had prepared. As the 
hut was located on one of their deer runs, there was a 
goodly quantity of offal inside and hung up about the 
door. The fur of the deer legs is peculiarly adapted for 
the making of boot-tops, and is instantly cut from the 
slaughtered animal and handed over to the women to be 
dressed. After the skins have been removed, the legs are 
roughly stripped of what little eatable tissue there is on 
them, and then, as the sewing-thread used by the natives 
comes largely from this source, they are generally hung 
up to dry, and the tendons removed at will. Of these 
there was quite a number in the hut, mostly with hoofs 
attached, which, indeed, when heated or softened in soup, 
are well worth eating. 

I drank a pint pot of tea, feeling considerably refreshed 
thereby; and then emptied a wooden bowl full of the 
odorous, if not savory, juice which the natives skimmed 
from a large kettle containing the shanks, hoofs, and va- 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 221 

rious bones of the deer. When the kettle had been boil- 
ing for some time, the natives drew forth from it and 
gave me portions of the putrid, stringy mess, and, swal- 
lowing some of this together with the soup, I finally 
closed my eyes in a much needed sleep. 

The dogs had been fed on a few of the scraps, the 
leaders getting the remainder of our hot mess, and the 
weakest were brought inside the hut to thaw out. Next 
morning we awoke to find the storm as vigorous as ever ; 
but as Mat Vay was only forty versts distant I deter- 
mined to accomplish the journey at once, since from that 
point there was no place of refuge short of Bulcour, and 
no succor nearer than Ku Mark Surt, fifty-five versts still 
farther to the southward. The natives again entreated 
me to tarry, saying it was Vos Crusina (the Sabbath 
Day). "But," said I, "bless your Sabbath, we must go 
on or perish." An enervating dysentery had attacked 
me, and now besides cold, exhaustion, and slow starvation, 
I had a fresh enemy to struggle with. 

I was now satisfied that I had done all that was possi- 
ble for me to do at that season of the year ; if De Long 
and party were alive and in the hands of natives, they 
were certainly as well off as myself ; if dead, and of this 
there could be scarcely any doubt, then the natives were 
wise in admonishing me that I should die too if I per- 
sisted in searching at that season of the } T ear for a lot 
of corpses, which I could find with safety in the early 
spring. So I urged an immediate departure, saying that 
to delay meant to die of starvation ; but the natives 
looked incredulous, and pointing to a heap of refuse, rich 
in fish heads, skins, and bones, goose wings with feathers 
attached, deer-skins, and other scraps, only smiled with 
an air of jollity, and answered, " Cushat manorga," 
(plenty to eat). 

Yes, thought I, a profusion, but heavens ! how hungry 
a man must be before he would even acknowledge such 



222 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

carrion as food. Much of it was alive with worms, 
which, indeed, the natives did not bother themselves with 
removing. And here is where I saw my friend Paddy- 
do justice to his digestion. His heavy lower jaw went 
up and down with the regularity and power of a pair of 
shears for cutting iron, crushing with ease the soft bones 
of fish and birds ; and Paddy was good to me, pulveriz- 
ing with his hatchet some small bones, which he extended 
to me with the assurance that I need not fear starvation ; 
they would keep hunger from our door, so to speak. 

They further argued that the dogs must be rested and 
fed, after which we would start and go directly on ; that 
a short distance from Qu Vina, they knew where a quan- 
tity of venison was buried, and that if I would wait over 
Vbs Qrusina they would stop and get it, and we would 
then have a sufficiency of food to carry us to Ku Mark 
Surt. I was by no means loath to recuperate, and eat 
of our bountiful supply of offal ; and, besides, in doing 
so and resting the teams we were doubtless making haste 
slowly ; so I made a virtue of necessity ; telling the na- 
tives, however, that if the weather improved, we would 
not halt at Mat Vay, but would keep right on and camp 
in the snow, for a native will never willingly abandon a 
hut in bad weather, if provided with food. 

Monday morning dawned calm and clear, but intensely 
cold ; and the stars glittered gloriously in the heavens. 
Running in an easterly direction for several hours, we 
then drew up, and the dogs being staked, Tomat stretched 
out my sleeping-bag on the snow alongside of the sled, 
and told me to crawl into it and spee (sleep), until 
they came back. For about an hour I lay there comfort- 
ably warm, and then the dogs bayed out their return. 
They had secured a lot of bones which had been interred 
the summer before, and were now covered witli the black 
earth of the tundra ; for it is a custom among the Yakuts 
to cut the meat from the carcass of their game for con- 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 223 

venience in transportation, and then bury the bones with 
an eye to future use in case of famine, or an emergency 
such as had befallen us. 

Strapping the bones on top of our sleds, we made an- 
other start, keeping along a branch of the river bed to 
the eastward of the one which we had previously fol- 
lowed ; passing a couple of huts which I had the natives 
overhaul; and, at length, coming in sight of Mat Vay, 
far off to the southward. 

The weather had remained clear, and the traveling 
was good, save for the sand-spits in the river, which cut 
the sled-runners and worried the dogs. I had now but 
one object in view ; that of reaching Belun, and thence 
hurrying on to Yakutsk, where I could fit out another 
expedition to continue my search in the early spring, be- 
fore the floods could carry off the dead and their effects 
to sea. So, agreeably to my expressed intention, I 
passed by Mat Vay, albeit the natives wistfully eyed the 
hut and longed to hear me sound a retreat. But on we 
went, pursuing the main channel of the river, between 
great blocks and hummocks of ice, which, lodging there 
the previous spring, had outlived the heat of summer, 
and now lay fixed and immovable where they had 
grounded. 

Huge masses of solid ice were there, as large as ordi- 
nary dwelling-houses ; and what surprised me most was 
how such monsters could have formed in one season. 
They were evidently the growth of a single winter, cast 
out, upon attaining their maturity, in the summer time, 
and were now in a proper position to stem the spring 
floods and act their mischievous part in the great ice-jam 
which yearly gorges the Lena outlet, and plays such sad 
havoc with the natives on the Delta, who must needs flee 
to the mountains for refuge. As we entered the mouth 
of the main river, where these giant blocks of ice lay 
stranded like so many monuments of the Druids, the 



224 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

wind began suddenly to pipe and blow in our faces. We 
bad sought an entrance where the Lena proper debouches 
from between the mountain ranges which guard its banks, 
and where a vast natural funnel had been formed, through 
which the cold winds, collected by the high hills, were 
driven with the force of a fan-blast. 

Awed and charmed at sight of these enormous masses 
of ice, I was absorbed, as we toiled slowly and laboriously 
along, in a study of their peculiar structure, oblivious of 
the wind and the monotonous " Yap " and " Tuck " of 
the drivers, when Geordi Nicolai rudely awoke me from 
a dream, — wherein a battle of the giants who could so 
promiscuously hurl such massive missiles was being 
waged, — to say, — 

" Bulchoi balogan, Mahor ! " (Big house, Major) ; 
aptly referring to the size of the ice-blocks. To be sure, 
they must have had their origin in the fall, when the 
young ice running and telescoping formed into a gorge, 
and the water percolating through the masses cemented 
them into solid bergs. 

But, aroused from my reverie, I looked around and saw 
that the natives were engaged in an unequal struggle 
with the storm ; for — 

" Boreas had burst his dungeon, armed with ice, 
And snow, and hail, and stormy gust and flaw." 

Standing on smooth patches of ice, it was impossible to 
resist the strong gale of wind, which, by sheer force, 
swept sleds, dogs, and men to leeward. Ah ! it was cold ! 
The blast seemed to go clear through me ; and presently, 
seeing that it was almost impossible to make any headway 
against it, I told the natives to camp behind one of the 
blocks of ice. But no ; they combated my order in a 
body, possessed of a healthy dread of the river, even 
in winter-time ; for they had known it to overflow its 
banks and carry destruction to the valley in an hour. 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 225 

So we labored along among the boulders of ice for more 
than a mile, and then opening out, at length, into the 
clear bed of the river, we turned to the west bank, where 
there was a sufficient snow-fall ; and, digging a square 
hole, as before, in the drift, set our sleds up to windward, 
and crawled, cold, supperless, and altogether miserable, 
into our sleeping-bags, beyond the fiercest fury of the 
storm. And it was an unspeakable comfort, indeed, to 
lie there stretched out horizontally in the snow, and 
feel the warm blood slowly coursing through our veins, 
until, glowing with heat, we sank into a sudden and re- 
freshing sleep. 

Elsewhere I have portrayed the alarming vicissitudes 
of a night in the snow ; how the first stage or flush of 
pleasant heat, engendered by extra clothing, gradually 
cools, and the warm moisture or perspiration chills, until 
suddenly the sleeper awakes — awakes if it is extremely 
cold — with a start which robs him of considerable skin, 
and renders him the more painfully conscious of the 
beautiful snow which has taken advantage of his slum- 
bering to drift under his garments. To this I may add 
that it is very arctic weather when the sleeper's nose is 
frozen, and then his thumb, when he righteously tries to 
thaw out his nose by holding it in the palm of his hand 
with thumb extended and exposed ; which thumb he, 
later on, thrusts into his mouth to thaw, and so on ad 
nauseam. Thus we lay through the night, and when day 
came it brought no lull in the storm ; and, since we could 
not hope to push forward, we remained all that next aw- 
ful day, without food, cramped and motionless, with the 
poor dogs cuddled shivering on top to keep us warm. 

But when the second morning arrived, and the gale 
had sunk to a gentle breeze, it was absolutely necessary 
that we should creep out of our bags and again start our 
stagnant blood into circulation ; and to do so was no 
mean effort, for we all experienced considerable difficulty 

15 



226 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

in straightening out, as it were, the crooks in our backs. 
The natives tried in vain to build a fire with the water- 
soaked and frozen driftwood which they picked up about 
the camp, until, finally, in despair and impatience to be 
off, I bade them pi dome, trusting to the near future for 
a good warming and a cup of hot tea. But here my ex- 
tra dog-team, driven by Starry Nicolai, must leave us. 
He had come, according to agreement, as far as he could 
without food for himself or dogs, and would now return 
to North Belun. Yet, before we parted, it was no more 
than right that he should be given a repast of the best 
that our sleds could afford ; and so, when his load had 
been shifted upon the other two teams, and I had ex- 
changed our poorest dogs for the best of his, Tomat drew 
forth the skeleton ribs of venison which had been disin- 
terred the day we left Qu Vina. 

With an axe the rib pieces were soon severed from the 
back-bone, and then from the inside of these the natives 
cut strips with their sheath-knives, and handed me a 
chunky morsel from the loin, as breakfast. I bit into it 
without any ceremony, while the dogs clamored frantic- 
ally for a share. So long as it remained frozen the meat 
did not exhibit the vile extent of its putridity ; but di- 
rectly I had taken it into my mouth it melted like butter, 
and at the same time gave off such a disgusting odor that 
I hastily relinquished my hold upon it, and the dogs cap- 
tured it at a single gulp. The natives first stared in 
genuine astonishment to see me cast away such good 
food to the dogs, and then burst forth into hearty laugh- 
ter at my squeamishness. But I was not to be outdone, 
much less ridiculed, by a Yakut, and so ordered some 
more, perhaps a pound of the stuff, cut up into little bits. 
These I swallowed like so many pills, and then gazed on 
my Yakut friends in triumph ; but not long, for in a 
little while my stomach heated the decomposed mess, an 
intolerable gas arose and retched me, and again I aban- 



STRUGGLING WITH BOREAS. 227 

doned my breakfast, — my loss, however, becoming the 
dogs' gain. 

At this the natives were nearly overcome with mirth ; 
but I astonished them by my persistence, requesting a 
third dose, albeit the second one had teemed with mag- 
gots ; and, swallowing the sickening bits as before, my 
stomach retained them out of pure exhaustion. 

And now Starry Nicolai was ready to begin his return 
trip of almost two hundred and eighty versts to the 
northwest. I broke off and gave him about a quarter of 
a pound of my brick tea, but beyond this he had not an 
ounce of food for his long and lonely journey. He begged 
hard for one of the tin cups ; but I was obliged to refuse 
him the simple thing, fearing lest it might lead some 
other searcher astray ; and my heart misgave me as I 
watched him, with his miserable little team of dogs and 
rickety old sled, trot slowly out of sight. Yet were my 
fears happily groundless, for I hired him again the fol- 
lowing spring, and he continued to drive teams for me 
until I left the Delta. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 

Forcing the Journey. — " Oo, oo." — Bulcour. — Rough Repairing. 
— "Paddy" despairs. — But quickly revives. — And performs 
Wonders. — Ku Mark Surt. — Buruloch. — My Deer Train. — 
On to Belun. — Tedious Progress. — Ajaket. — Belun. — Epa- 
tchieff. 

And now began the most difficult and distressing stage 
of our journey ; for we had scarcely set forth when the 
wind rose again, and, gathering up the sand and snow 
from the bed of the river, assailed us with fresh fury, 
cutting our faces and filling our clothes with the coarse 
rough grains. The dogs, unable to keep their feet on the 
glassy ice, were borne hither and thither by the cruel 
wind which showered sand in their eyes, and so utterly 
demoralized them that they fell down and howled in ter- 
ror. Then, too, the sled-runners were greatly impeded 
by the driving pebbles ; and when the natives guided the 
teams along the shore where the sand lay in bare spits, 
the dogs were unable to pull their loads. Moreover, the 
sled-runners had now worn off to such an extent that 
some of the lashings which held them to the stanchions 
had parted, and instant repairing was in order. But the 
natives were determined, if at all possible, to accomplish 
this long march to Bulcour in one day, and when I sug- 
gested to Paddy that we camp at nightfall, he answered 
sturdily, — 

" Soak, pomree ; poorga nianorga." 

The natives saw that I was very sick from eating the 



END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 229 

decayed venison, but they were really afraid to stop with- 
out shelter or fire. At length one of the runners gave 
way ; and turning the sled upside down, a piece of drift- 
wood was found, chopped into proper shape, filled with 
the necessary number of holes, bored by means of the 
fiddle-bow drill instrument, and then lashed on with 
thongs cut from the dog-harness or trace ; and soon we 
were off again. But lashing after lashing broke, until it 
looked as though the sleds were entirely going to pieces. 
I tried then to induce the natives to cache the loads, 
hasten on to Bulcour for the night, and send back for 
them the next day. Tomat was perfectly willing, but 
Paddy hung on like a bull-dog, telling me constantly, "a 
little while, a little distance," until I became utterly help- 
less. We passed the " Place of the Sleighs," and Paddy 
only said " a little while," and would not consent to stop 
at the hut. So I lay on top of the sled writhing in agony, 
until at last, and it seemed an age, the teams stopped 
and I heard the natives speak of water (Oo, 00), striking 
the ice with their iron-shod staves. Looking up, I saw 
that we had reached a stream of comparatively warm 
water, — for the ice had hitherto averaged a thickness 
of four feet, — and that the drivers were stretched out 
on their stomachs eagerly sucking up the water through 
holes which they had punched in the thin ice. My efforts 
to follow suit were not rewarded, for the water would not 
rise to the surface, and my suction power was too feeble 
to draw it up. Afterwards, particularly between Belun 
and Verkeransk, I found many such springs bursting 
forth and flooding the ice for miles. 

It was almost morning when, after a succession of ac- 
cidents, we arrived at the foot of the hills on which are 
pitched the huts of Bulcour. The dogs, too weak to 
draw the sleds up the bank, were turned loose, and the 
natives then unloaded the sleds and carried them into 
the hut for repairs. While they were thus engaged I 



230 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

made strenuous endeavors to scramble up the bank, but 
it was so steep that I as regularly slipped back, and ac- 
complished nothing but the pounding of a shelf in the 
snow. So I decided at length to wait until the natives 
had time to assist me, and sitting down I was soon fast 
asleep, warm and comfortable from my fruitless exer- 
tions. And there I remained until the natives, missing 
me, instituted a search and set up a great shouting, which 
finally resulted in their discovering me quite at home in 
the cozy pocket which my struggles had formed in the 
snow. Sliding me down to the foot of the bank, they 
seated me on one of the sleds, and so drew me up to the 
hut ; and I had no sooner crept into my sleeping-bag than 
my eyes closed again. Hot tea, which they aroused me 
to partake of, was all I had for supper, since, forsooth, 
there was nothing else, save the putrid reindeer bones, 
and of them I had already eaten more than enough. 

When we awoke, the natives busied themselves in mak- 
ing good the damage to our sleds ; but they did so in such 
a rude manner, piecing and splicing the runners with 
rough short sticks of driftwood, that I remonstrated with 
them, asserting that the sleds would surely break down 
before going any distance. They only looked at me quiz- 
zically, as though they would say, " Go away, child ; what 
do you know about sleds or venison ? " and Geordi Ni- 
colai playfully offered me a piece of the latter which he 
was eating. So they had it their own way, and late in 
the forenoon we succeeded in making a fresh start. I 
tried again to prevail upon the natives to store all my 
heavy weights at Bulcour, and send for them from Ku 
Mark Surt, now only fifty-five versts distant; but Paddy 
was tenacious in his grip, and confident of pulling them 
through, so I did not quarrel with him. Yet we had 
barely driven a hundred yards, when one of the sled- 
runners gave way ; and I had consequently the laugh on 
the natives, telling them that though they could eat rot- 



END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 231 

ten meat, still I could mend a broken sled. But even 
after this, successive breaks occurred, until I feared a 
total dissolution of our teams. 

The snow had deepened considerably since my passage 
north, some twenty days before ; the dogs were worn 
down to mere skeletons ; and the distance which, in 
going, I had made in less than eight hours, and on my 
return had trusted to accomplish in ten or twelve, it now 
looked as though we would never cover. Ku Mark 
Surt contained all that was necessary for our comfort 
and recuperation ; but it was evident that we had forced 
the distances and overworked the dogs. The natives 
were worn out, and even Paddy threw down his stake in 
disgust and cast himself on the snow, cursing bitterly, 
I imagine, in Yakut. Yet it always ended in a smoke of 
the pipe, and then, when dogs and men were rested, the 
journey was once more resumed. Thus the day died out, 
and, at length, long after dark, we all became so weary 
that I proposed that we camp over night in the snow, 
and finish the short distance to Ku Mark Surt in the 
morning. Paddy was discouraged, and had dejectedly 
taken a seat by his sled ; so I ordered Geordi Nicolai and 
Tom at to make camp, which they were proceeding to do, 
when Paddy suddenly revived, and stopped them with the 
remark that it was only a little way to the village. Then 
stepping to the front of his team he seized the leading 
dog by the back of the neck, pulled him out of the snow, 
shook him vigorously, and then, pointing his own nose to 
the stars after the manner of the dogs, began howling 
like a wolf. 

At first I thought he had gone mad, but presently the 
dog caught the spirit of his master, and elevating his 
head howled dismally. This seemed to be precisely 
what Paddy desired ; he eagerly encouraged the other 
dogs, and in a few minutes both teams were making 
night hideous. With his hands to his ears, Paddy then 



232 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

stood in a listening attitude, while the discordant chorus 
grew louder and louder, until, finally, during a brief lull 
when the dogs paused to catch breath, he triumphantly 
exclaimed, — 

" Savaccas, savaccas ! Ku Mark Surt savaccas ! " 
I bent eagerly forward but could not hear the dogs at 
the village, for the howling of our own ; but Paddy as- 
sured me it was da-loca, da-loca (far, far away). And 
now I noticed a restlessness among our teams ; they 
barked and snapped and leaped in their harness ; for they 
had detected the far-off wailing of their fellows, faint, 
but certain, in the frosty night air. Paddy warned me 
to be quick, and I had just time to fall on my stomach 
across the sled, when the now thoroughly aroused and 
excited teams dashed forward at full tilt, vying with 
each other in their wild ardor to reach the village. On 
we flew, but Geordi Nicolai and Tomat had not been 
nimble enough, and were accordingly left to trudge on 
in our wake laden with snow-shovels and bedding ; nor 
did they overtake us, for Paddy's trick was a brilliant 
coup, and the answering howl to his Lochiel cry inspired 
our dogs with a new life and strength — loaned them 
wings, and when they halted panting at the foot of the 
steep embankment there was a host of canine friends 
yelping out a welcome to them ; while from the chimney 
tops the flames leaped cheerily, and the women flashed 
their flambeaux from hut to hut preparing the way for 
our reception. 

Soon the sleds were hauled to a place of safety, the 
dogs liberated and staked in their harness, and later on, 
when they had rested, given a feed of fish heads. We 
were ushered into my old quarters, the principal hut of 
the village, and home of the young lady who had so 
adroitly combed her flowing and lively tresses. Here I 
was entertained with a disjointed recital of the game of 
" hide and seek " between the espravnick and myself ; I 



END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 233 

had taken to the roads, they said, and the espravnick 
had followed me all around with a bag of bread, — which 
seemed to amuse them greatly. Some of the natives had 
been to Belun and seen the sailors, and consequently 
must tell us all about their peculiarities : how one had 
lost an eye, and another who had lost his mind wished 
constantly to box with the Yakuts ; and him they mim- 
icked to perfection like so many monkeys, distinctly pro- 
nouncing the words " Jack Cole." They chattered about 
the guns and hatchets and other riches of the white 
men ; whom they plainly considered a great people and 
very wealthy, notwithstanding that we lived solely upon 
their bounty, and were beggars, indeed. 

I need not tell how completely I enjoyed our supper of 
fish, or the refreshing sleep which followed. Before turn- 
ing in I had removed my outer clothing, and bathed my 
feet and legs in a tub of hot water prepared by the wo- 
men ; they then greased my limbs with fish-oil or goose 
grease, which softened and loosened the clotted blood 
and matted hair. My toe and finger nails, I found, had 
turned black, beside curling up, and were painful to the 
touch. I slept soundly in the consciousness of having 
done all I could for the relief or discovery of my lost 
comrades ; and, however much I regretted my failure to 
find them, still was it not something — nay, a great deal 
— to have recovered our valuable records and relics ? 

Early next morning I was out again, but could procure 
no deer-team as I had managed to do before, and so we 
were compelled to have recourse to our dogs, reinforced 
by a few recruits from the village. A comparatively 
good road now lay before us, tracked out by the many 
teams which were coming and going along the east side 
of the river, the entire distance being marked out by 
stakes and tree branches set up within sight of each 
other. Arrived at Buruloch, the deer station, I dis- 
charged Geordi Nicolai and Phadee Achin, giving them 



234 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

all the tea and small articles which I could spare, together 
with the assurance that they would be fitly paid for the 
valuable services which they had rendered me. After our 
parting they refreshed themselves, and coolly set out on 
their dreary return to Sever Belun. 

Buruloch is the first regular reindeer station on the 
road, and here the dog and deer teams are forever meet- 
ing. To protect the deer, which are allowed to roam 
about in the woods and feed on the moss which abounds 
in this particular locality, several large corrals of tall 
poles are erected to confine the dogs. The owner of the 
station complained to me of the great loss of deer from 
wolves in that vicinity, and he had consequently some dif- 
ficulty in gathering together enough animals to transport 
my party and effects to Belun. After a night here, in- 
cluding a supper and breakfast of boiled venison, which 
in its best condition is infinitely worse than very poor 
mutton, I watched the process of arranging my^teams. 
First in order was a leading driver with two deer hitched 
abreast to his sled, to the rear of which my team was 
attached. Tomat came next, driving his own deer, his 
sled laden with part of my treasures ; then followed a 
driver conducting two teams as before, of two deer each, 
bearing the balance of the goods ; and lastly came two 
relief teams, making sixteen deer in all. 

From this the reader may partially appreciate the com- 
plex difficulties of Siberian travel, even when conducted 
under the most favorable circumstances. 

A team of deer is not supposed to haul more than five 
pood, that is, two hundred pounds, or one passenger, 
whose provision box, not to exceed the same weight, re- 
quires a second team, and his driver must have a third ; 
so that one traveler must needs employ six deer in his 
transportation. The provision box is a necessary part of 
his outfit, since he cannot rely upon securing any pro- 
visions while en route ; and should, indeed, take the pre- 



END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 235 

caution- of purchasing and slaughtering a reindeer for 
his own use. As he retreats from the sea, fish in any 
quantity cannot be procured, and bread or meal, to the 
north of Verkeransk, is utterly out of the question. 
True, the traders and coperts carry kiln -dried black 
bread made of unbolted rye meal, but they use it very 
sparingly, and consume large quantities of venison, fish, 
or beef ; whereas to the southward of Yakutsk black 
bread becomes literally the staff of life ; and among the 
natives between Verkeransk and Yakutsk, the principal 
article of food is boiled milk with a little rye meal 
stirred in to thicken it ; though, to be sure, venison and 
beef, when procurable, — as, indeed, the flesh of any 
horse which may die from disease or be killed in har- 
ness, — are all eaten with thankful avidity. 

We made an early start from Buruloch, and I hoped 
to reach Belun within ten hours as I had easily done be- 
fore. The snow was deeper, but I had plenty of deer 
and two good guides ; yet we had not journeyed far be- 
fore I learned that in proportion to the number of teams 
so is the difficulty of traveling. For when the first sled 
went slow, the second one was sure to foul with it and 
upset, and this it did with provoking persistency. Then, 
too, the guides lost their way (and who ever had a guide 
that did n't); we recrossed the river in search of the road, 
which we could not find, and so climbed along for a spell 
over the heaped-up masses of ice on the broken river- 
bed, blindly returning at length to the west bank. Time 
ran on apace, the air grew colder and more blustry ; 
and it was all we could do to keep our sleds upright on 
their runners. I now found myself becoming more cold 
and numb than usual, and could not understand it, for I 
had been well-fed and rested during the past two days 
and nights ; but it suddenly occurred to me that the 
manner in which I had boiled myself at Ku Mark Surt 
and removed the scabs from my feet and legs had much 



236 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

to do with my increased susceptibility to the weather. 
And this was the only reason I could give myself. The 
natives, too, complained bitterly of the cold, and, after 
wandering vainly across the river once more, drew up at 
a hut on the east bank. Here we rested and warmed 
ourselves, and then the drivers, fortified with some fresh 
information, again crossed over to the other side, and scal- 
ing a thickly- wooded declivity drove to a wild, romantic 
spot in the woods, where a few huts were congregated. 
We halted at one and made hot tea, the natives stuffing 
themselves with raw fish, of which I did not partake. 
Though half dead from cold and exhaustion, I was very 
anxious to be off, and roundly rebuked the guides for 
losing the road and idling away their time in the huts. 

This place, I learned, was Ajaket, only a short distance 
from Belun, but a long way back from the river; and 
when I remonstrated with the natives for having gone so 
far out of their course simply to drink tea, they explained 
that the night was much colder than usual and they were 
afraid I would die. But the truth was and is, that a 
Yakut will travel forty versts in order to drink tea with 
his neighbor, the more gladly if the neighbor supplies 
the tea. Our road now lay through the low woods, 
across deep ravines, and over hills until we came upon 
the river bank again, when a brief run of less than an 
hour brought us to Belun. 

The village was slumbering peacefully, and it required 
no little rapping to arouse the Commandant, whose wel- 
come, however, was cordial in the extreme. Yet this 
last short ride had severely taxed my remaining modicum 
of strength. I felt as though all my vitality of body 
and mind had deserted me ; and had many more hours 
been added to my arduous journey of twenty-three days, 
I certainly could not have outlived them. 

The natives had gone to the Balogan Americanski and 
apprised its occupants of my arrival, and Bartlett and 



END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 237 

Nindemann were soon greeting me. Swallowing some hot 
tea and refreshments, I then returned with the men to 
their hut, where they were comfortably quartered, and 
found that Mr. Danenhower had been unable to secure 
transportation, as I had ordered, for the whole party, but 
had furnished five of the men, beside himself, with fur- 
clothing and a bountiful supply of food, and started, in 
the best of spirits, for Verkeransk, leaving the others be- 
hind to await my return. 

Bartlett then informed me that Kasharofski, the es- 
pravnick of the district of Verkeransk, had dispatched 
his assistant, Epatchieff, to the Lena Delta, to learn who 
and what we were. The people of Eastern Siberia had 
never heard of the Jeannette expedition ; so when my tel- 
egram passed through Verkeransk, the espravnick, re- 
marking the strange characters in which it was written, 
and receiving at the same time an explanatory letter 
from the Malinki Pope, sent for an exile, M. Leon by 
name, who could write and speak French, German, and 
English, and had him translate it, — forwarding it imme- 
diately after by special courier to Yakutsk. He then 
sent his assistant at once to Belun, armed with a box of 
medicines prepared by Dr. Buali (White), another exile, 
and a letter, translated at his dictation by M. Leon into 
French, German, and English, inquiring who we were and 
what he could do for us. 

I now decided to wait until Epatchieff returned from 
his protracted search for me; and meanwhile I urged 
Bieshoff, the Cossack commandant, to exert himself to 
procure reindeer clothing, and moccasins, mittens, caps, 
etc., for all my party to use on our sledge journey to Ya- 
kutsk. 

I arrived at Belun on the 27th of November, 1881; 
and though I had not succeeded in finding the bodies of 
De Long and party, yet I had diminished the distance 
to be searched to the space, north and south, between 



238 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Usterda and Mat Vay, which, as the crow flies, is less 
than one hundred miles. And here I may mention the 
surprise which Noros occasioned me upon laying claim 
to the belt which I had found at Mat Vay and had sup- 
posed, on the strength of his and Nindemann's story, to 
belong to one of the remainder of De Long's party. 
During my journey I had traveled in straight lines 
1,140 versts ; but considering the devious course, the 
turnings and wanderings, the distance may easily be 
computed as so many miles ; a verst being sixty-six per 
cent, of a mile. I also fully informed myself of the char- 
acter of the natives, the location of their villages, and 
the resources for supplies of food and dogs, and, in fact, 
all things which would insure a successful search in the 
coming spring. For I had now made in addition a very 
correct chart of the topography of the Delta, and had De 
Long possessed it, none of his party need have perished. 
Epatchieff, the assistant espravnick, arrived in Belun 
on the 29th, and I at once had an audience with him. 
At first our progress in comprehending each other was 
painfully slow, but Bieshoff, with whom I had had two 
days of profitable conversation, acted as interpreter, and 
presently our jargon and pantomime grew upon us, until 
Epatchieff was able to say, " Very good," when either 
made a particularly good hit in the other's tongue. So 
that, indeed, by the time we were ready to start for Ver- 
keransk we had become quite chatty together, and while 
on the road, when we halted at povarnias, we talked pol- 
itics, religion, and anything else we wanted to. To be 
sure we would now and then go astray in our conception 
of each other's arguments, as when we were talking of 
the relative cost of steamboats (parahotes') on the Lena 
River, some of which are made of wood and others of 
iron, — wood being very plentiful and iron very scarce, so 
scarce that Epatchieff emphasized its value by saying it 
was worth its weight in gold. At this, I told him of the 



END OF MY FIRST SEARCH. 239 

great rarity and consequent value of iron in Central 
China (JKeti), remarking, also, that I had seen a boiler 
weighing thirty tons cut up into little pieces and for- 
warded into the interior on the backs of men. To make 
it plainer I had reduced the weight to pounds, 60,000, 
and called the boiler, kottle, or kettle. This was all 
right, but in describing it, I had called it golatz (gold) 
instead of jalazia (iron) ; whereupon Epatchieff looked 
very mystified and then incredulous, until finally show- 
ing his finger ring and tapping one of the dinner-knives 
he besought me to tell him whether I meant golatz or 
jalazia. Presently we understood each other and laughed 
heartily. 

With everything in readiness, I set out December 1st 
in company with Epatchieff for Verkeransk. Before 
leaving I first saw that the remainder of my party were 
all properly equipped and provisioned to follow me, and, 
putting Bartlett in charge, I directed him not to depart 
from Belun if any man complained of his clothing or 
outfit, but to promptly see the commandant, who would 
attend to all their wants. I started in advance in order 
to prepare the way for their coming and save time, the 
better so accompanied by the espravnick, since he has 
the right of way in everything. Then, too, a party of 
six with equipment cannot always be furnished with 
transportation at one time, the law limiting the number 
to three ; but I succeeded in making special arrange- 
ments for the whole party, and thus avoided much suf- 
fering and delay, for although we were all enjoying fairly 
good health, still our former privations had left us very 
weak, and our feet and legs were yet tender from the ef- 
fects of frost-bite. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
FROM BELUN TO VERKERANSK. 

My Record of the Journey. — Minus 45° Reaumur. — A Russian's 
Views of America and her Institutions. — Kasharofski. — M. Leon. 

— My Letter of Instructions. — A Visit to the Hut of the Exiles. 

— Leon's Case. — Life at Verkeransk. — Facts about the Political 
Exiles. 

Here is what my journal says of the journey to Ver- 
keransk : — 

December 1st. — Traveled ninety versts and halted at a 
povarnia for tea. 

December 2d. — Traveled night and day, sleeping on top 
of my sled while in motion, with my sleeping-bag under 
my head for a pillow, but with no other covering than 
my deer-skin clothes. Much troubled by the upsetting 
of the sled, and the terrible pains in my feet. The deer 
go too fast to permit of my running alongside the sled 
for warmth and exercise, so I must only grin and bear it. 
Stopped at six A. M., and had tea. Made eighty versts ; 
stopped again for two hours to rest and feed the reindeer 
and breakfast; then made seventy versts before dark, 
halted for tea and fresh teams of deer, and started across 
the tundra one hundred versts. 

December 3d. — On the go all night, losing our way on 
the tundra, and wandering aimlessly about. Ours was 
the best driver to be had, but he became hopelessly con- 
fused. Epatchieff* pointed out the road, at length, re- 
membering a small ravine which we had crossed. I had 
a compass with me, but no one knew the course over the 



FROM BELUN TO VERKERANSK. 241 

tundra. We should have accomplished the distance in 
ten hours, whereas it took us fifteen hours and a half ; 
and when we halted, our feet, hands, and faces were 
swollen from the intense cold. 

Sunday, December 4th. — Traveled day and night, 
arriving (one A. M.) at the first stancia (station). I 
received two notes from Danenhower, saying that he 
secured venison and frozen milk here. We changed 
teams and drivers and were off again. Before leaving 
the station, we had a dinner of venison roasted on the 
coals, and "noodle-soup," Epatchieff having been so 
thoughtful as to lay in a store of "noodles" for our jour- 
ney. Made sixty versts, and then another sixty, hauling 
up at a balogan ; and finally halted at five o'clock, hav- 
ing made one hundred and forty versts between the 
hours of four A. M. and five P. M. 

December 5th. — Made ten versts ; stopped to rest the 
deer and dine, and then on again to a station, with eighty 
versts more added to our list of magnificent distances. 
From noon we had eighty versts ahead of us, and this 
point is two hundred and twenty versts from Verkeransk. 
Hauled up at eight P. M. for tea, having covered the last 
eighty versts in six hours and a quarter. 

December 6th. — Drew up at three A. M., with sixty 
versts to our credit, in five and a quarter hours. Froze 
my left foot again, and it is bleeding all over. Cold ! ! 
EpatchiefFs Reaumur says minus 45°. Made sixty versts 
and drank more tea. On again with only thirty versts 
to go, and these we made by six P. M. 

Nine hundred versts in five days and eighteen hours. 
A fair showing indeed. But we traveled night and day 
without once sleeping in a hut or stancia. During our 
stoppages I had a number of pleasant talks with Epa- 
tchieff, who is a Russian, born in Yakutsk, sociable, in- 
telligent, and withal a very fine fellow. He had many 
queer questions to ask concerning America, the " Great 

16 



242 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Republic," and her constitution. He lives in the hope 
that Russia will some day have a constitution, as many 
unhappy people would thereby be saved from exile. He 
has no faith in the criminal classes, believing, and rightly, 
that they should be punished. He told me all about the 
assassination of President Garfield, but said he had been 
stabbed ; and he drew the inference that too much free- 
dom was the death of presidents as well as czars ; a re- 
public could not be all good, else we would not have 
killed our president. He is a sturdy Greek churchman, 
but has strange views on religion ; a man born a Russian 
and brought up under the influence of the Greek church, 
has no right to change or alter his religious belief ; and 
those persons who do, he thinks, are very properly exiled. 
A man born and educated a Romanist or Lutheran (for 
he knows no other of the Protestant faiths) may, how- 
ever, retain his religion and be true to his state ; but it 
seems impossible to him that a Russian could abandon 
the national religion and still remain loyal to his.country. 
He is very much interested in our marriage and divorce 
laws, and particularly inquired if it was necessary to 
have both the civil and religious ceremony performed ; 
appearing somewhat surprised when I informed him that 
each was equally binding, though certain persons made 
assurance doubly sure by marrying three times, — once 
by means of a state official, and twice by means of clergy- 
men of different denominations. As to divorce, that was 
purely a civil process, and could only be compassed for 
cause. He had a very mistaken idea in regard to this 
matter, having somehow or other arrived at the conclu- 
sion that men and women in America married and di- 
vorced themselves at pleasure. I plainly told him that 
Siberia was the only country I had ever been in where 
every man had apparently a family, and few, if any, had 
wives. This may have been putting it rather strong, but 
throughout Eastern Siberia I found as many men with 



FROM BELUN TO VERKERANSK. 243 

concubines as I did with wives, and, moreover, met hosts 
of these concubines at evening parties, and they mingled 
freely with the wives of other men, and it seemed all 
right. 

Immediately upon my arrival at Verkeransk, I was 
driven to the residence of Kasharofski, the espravnick, 
who received me with great kindness. Danenhower and 
the first section of my party had been nicely entertained 
here, the men having been quartered at the house of a 
widow lady, where they were well fed, and furnished 
with plenty of tobacco and a very limited amount of 
vodki ; and, as a matter of course, enjoyed themselves 
hugely. Jack Cole, poor fellow, though non compos 
mentis, was not factious, but jolly and full of all kinds of 
nonsense. But he became so peculiar, at length, that 
Mr. Danenhower found it necessary to place him under 
the care of a Cossack ; and then after a few days of rest 
and preparation they all set out for Yakutsk accompa- 
nied by a Cossack, who vouched for their expenses on 
the road. The journey was a pleasant and merry one, 
for they had been well-provisioned at Verkeransk, and 
though it was very cold no one suffered greatly, since the 
stations were located at easy distances. They had not 
left Verkeransk when a courier arrived from General 
George Tschernaieff, with five hundred roubles for the 
use of the party, tendered by the General from his pri- 
vate purse. Mr. Danenhower took two hundred of the 
roubles and left the remainder for me, but as I had no 
need of any money I placed it in the hands of Kasharof- 
ski, and had all my bills carried forward ; this I did to 
avoid a complication of accounts. 

Directly after my arrival, the espravnick sent for M. 
Leon, one of the political exiles in his keeping, to act as 
interpreter between us. M. Leon came and introduced 
himself as the gentleman who had written the letter for 
the espravnick to me while I was at the Delta; and 



244 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

now, while he interpreted for us, he managed to inter- 
polate for my benefit a part of his history. We had a 
capital dinner together of teal, duck, snipe, and other 
game which Kasharofski kept frozen in his ice-cellar the 
whole year round. Leon told me that he had never be- 
fore eaten at his table, though often, at first, invited to 
do so ; for Leon was a very bitter Nihilist, and would 
not fraternize with his keepers. Kasharofski had a 
son, whom I named the Malinki Soldat (Little Soldier), 
greatly to the delight of both. Mrs. Kasharofski was 
a pleasant, fair-haired, good-looking woman, seemingly 
quite content to spend her days in this remote wilder- 
ness of snow, cooking and caring for her house, and 
spouse, and little son. She waited on us at table, and 
did not sit down until after we were through. It was 
the first good meal I had eaten since leaving San Fran- 
cisco. There was some red wine on the table, called 
melivki, which is made of dilute vodki and wild red ber- 
ries, pleasant to the taste and not very heady ; and then 
there were also cognac, and plain vodki, which is nothing 
more than unrectified rye whiskey of about sixty per 
cent. 

Our conversation was prolonged until three or four 
o'clock in the morning, for, of course, I had the story of 
the Jeannette to tell in all its mournful details. 

Leon informed me that no news had ever reached them 
of our party ; that they had recently heard of a German 
Expedition, but knew nothing whatever about us or our 
cruise until we actually came up out of the Polar Sea to 
visit them. I could see his eyes brighten when I spoke 
of the facility with which I could navigate the coast of 
Siberia in a vessel as small as our whale-boat. Kasharof- 
ski was anxious to learn all about the clothing and pro- 
visions necessary to undertake journeys such as we had 
been making ; and as my narrative passed the lips of 
Leon, the young exile drank in every word, and his face 



FROM BEL UN TO VERKERANSK. 245 

flushed with hope and joy while I opened to his glisten- 
ing eyes a glorious vision of escape from an odious 
imprisonment. 

Next morning Leon came again to breakfast with us 
and to continue in his office of interpreter. While at 
table he told me that in putting Kasharofski's questions 
he would take the liberty of asking a number of his own. 
When we had finished our meal I requested Kasharofski 
to send an order at once to Bieshoff, the commandant at 
Belun, directing him to continue the search until my re- 
turn, or the arrival of some other American officer on the 
spot. The following is my letter of instructions, which 
Leon translated ; and it was instantly dispatched to Be- 
lun by special courier, a copy being forwarded to General 
Tschernaietl. 

Verkeransk, December 7, 1881. 
ESPRAVNICK, ETC : 

Sir, — It is my desire and the wishes of the Government of 
the United States of America and of the projector of the Amer- 
ican expedition that a diligent and constant search be made for 
my missing comrades of both boats. Lieutenant De Long and 
his party, consisting of twelve persons, will be found near the 
bank of the Lena River, west side of the river. They are south 
of the small hunting station known among the Yakuts as Qu 
Vina. They could not possibly have marched as far south as Bul- 
cour ; therefore, be they dead or alive they are between Bulcour 
and Qu Vina. I have already traveled over this ground, but 
followed the river bank ; therefore it is necessary that a more 
careful search be made on the high ground back from the river 
for a short distance as well as along the river bank. I examined 
many huts and small houses but could not possibly examine all 
of them ; therefore it is necessary that all — every house and 
hut, large and small, must be examined for books, papers, or the 
persons of the party. Men without food and but little clothing 
would naturally seek shelter in huts along the line of their 
march, and if exhausted might die in one of them. They would 
leave their books and papers in a hut if unable to carry them 



246 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

farther. If they carried their books and papers south of that 
section of country between Mat Vay and Bulcour, their books 
and papers will be found piled up in a heap, and some prominent 
object erected near them to attract the attention of searching 
parties ; a mast of wood or a pile of wood would be erected near 
them if not on them. In case books or papers are found, they 
are to be sent to the American minister resident at St. Peters- 
burg. If they are found and can be forwarded to me before I 
leave Russia, I will take them to America with me. 

If the persons of my comrades are found dead I desire that 
all books and papers be taken from their clothing and forwarded 
to the American minister at St. Petersburg, or to me if in time 
to reach me before leaving Russia. The persons of the dead I 
wish to have carried to a central position most convenient of 
access from Belun, all placed inside of a small hut, arranged 
side by side for future recognition, the hut then securely closed 
and banked up with snow or earth, and remain so until a 
proper person arrives from America to make final disposition 
of the bodies. In banking up the hut have it done in such man- 
ner that animals cannot get in and destroy the bodies. 

Search for the small boat, containing eight persons, should be 
made from the west mouth of the Lena River to and beyond 
the east mouth of the Jana River. Since the separation of the 
three boats no information has been received concerning the 
small boat ; but as all three boats were destined to Barkin, and 
then to go to a Lena mouth, it is natural to suppose that Lieut. 
Chipp directed his boat to Barkin if he managed to weather 
the gale ; but if from any cause he could not reach a Lena mouth, 
Lieut. Chipp would coutinue along the coast from Barkin, west 
for a north mouth of the Lena, or south for an eastern mouth 
of the Lena River. If still unsuccessful in getting into the 
Lena River, he might from stress of weather, or other cause, 
be forced along the coast toward the Jana River. 

Diligent and constant search is to commence now, in Decem- 
ber, and to continue until the people, books, and papers are 
found, care being taken that a vigilant and careful examination 
of that section of the country where Lieutenant De Long and 
party are known to be is made in early spring-time, when the 



FROM BELUN TO VERKERANSK. 247 

snow begins to leave the ground and before the spring floods 
commence to overflow the river bank. One or more American 
officers will, in all probability, be in Belun in time to assist in 
the search, but the search mentioned in these instructions is to 
be carried on independently of any other party, and to be en- 
tirely under the control of the competent authority of Russia." 

Leon now urgently invited me to visit his comrades in 
exile. I asked Kasharofski if he had any objection, and 
he said, " Oh no ; he did not believe a Nihilist could 
hurt a Republican ; but dinner would be ready at four." 
So he sent me to the hut of the exiles in his sleigh, which 
returned again for Leon and myself at dinner time. 

M. Leon was a slenderly built, dark, and cadaverous- 
visaged young man with a Jewish cast of countenance ; 
though when I asked him, he said he was not a Hebrew. 
His hair was black and long, reaching to his shoulders. 
He had been a student of law, he told me, and was ar- 
rested in a students' row on the streets, and afterwards 
brought before three separate tribunals, not one of which, 
however, had been able to find anything irregular in his 
habits of life ; and so, indeed, his final commitment pa- 
pers expressly stated. While en route to Siberia he 
asked the Cossack officer of his guard, a good-natured 
fellow, to permit him to look at these papers. His re- 
quest was granted, and he learned that he had been sent 
out, after the different tribunals had acquitted him, on 
what is known as an "administrative order," — a remark- 
able instrument which closed with the following piece 
of legal logic : — 

" We can prove nothing against this man, but he is a 
student of law and no doubt a very dangerous man," 

And he was accordingly banished for life. Leon had 
preserved a copy of his commitment papers, which he 
exhibited to me with a great deal of merriment at the 
peculiar philosophy of the administrator. 

In the hut I found four other young men, Messrs. 



248 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Loung, Zack, Artzibucheff, and Tzarensky, all political 
exiles ; the oldest twenty-seven, and the youngest eigh- 
teen years of age. 'They were all professional men, and 
spoke French fluently ; some, German, too, and others a 
little English. All were earnest Nihilists, though several 
said they had not been so until after their banishment. 
Each had his sad and sorry story to tell, and all looked 
upon me as a most curious phenomenon. They came 
from different parts of the empire, had known the inte- 
rior of Russian prisons all the way from Archangel to 
the Crimea, and were finally sent to the frontier to in- 
sure their safety. They were eager questioners in regard 
to the navigation of the Siberian coast, having in their 
possession a number of charts and maps, and they had 
often talked and dreamed, they said, of attempting an 
escape, but two thousand miles of coast -line and more 
than one thousand miles of river navigation had seemed 
an impossible feat until we had accomplished it, and 
risen before them like a pillar of hope. 

With Kasharof ski's permission, I visited them daily 
while awaiting the arrival of my men from Belun. In 
the evenings several little parties were given, where I 
met the elite of Verkeransk. At these affairs the people 
sang, played, ate, and everybody seemed to gamble, drink, 
and smoke. The women had separate apartments where- 
in they did all these things ; and I dumfounded the as- 
semblies by telling them that I never played cards, not 
even in my own country. Leon, who was present, said : 
" They will suspect you of some evil, for they argue 
thus: This is a queer man who neither gambles nor 
drinks: he must be always thinking, and a man who 
thinks much must have some evil thoughts — so banish 
him at once ! " 

But this was the speech of a poor exile, whose life was 
ruined because by reading and reflecting he had learned 
to speak the truths of moral and political science, yet had 



FROM BELUN TO VERKERANSK. 249 

unwisely spoken them too loud, and so convicted himself 
as a corrupter of the truth. He was fully acquainted 
with the works of our modern philosophers and political 
economists, John Stuart Mill, Richard Cobden, Herbert 
Spencer, etc., and longed for a supply of English books ; 
for at the hut, though they had French, German, and 
English dictionaries, they had no reading matter of any 
kind in our language, and so implored me to give them 
the Bible or any other English print I had in the navi- 
gation box ; but as these were relics of the expedition, I, 
of course, could not part with them. 

My stay at Verkeransk was both a pleasant and profit- 
able one. I made a copy of the Russian chart of the Lena 
Delta for future use, and had frequent interviews with the 
political exiles. Their hut was a miserable affair, built 
in the manner of the Yakut yaurta, of vertical timber 
covered with mud. There were the usual outer and 
inner apartments, a kind of weather porch, and a kitchen 
which contained their fire-place and cooking apparatus. 
In the inner apartment they lived and kept their books, 
beds, clothing, etc. The walls were overspread with 
Russian picture papers, but the room was so low and 
dark and musty that it was a very disagreeable place to 
visit, much more to live in. At midday it was neces- 
sary to burn candles for light ; and they were compelled 
to this manner of living by their poverty. The govern- 
ment allowed each one for all his wants a monthly sub- 
sidy of twenty-five roubles, — a sum equivalent to about 
twelve dollars and a half in our money; a stipend on 
which they must feed, clothe, and house themselves, 
beside procuring fire-wood and service. And this, too, 
in a locality where rye meal costs five roubles per pood 
of forty pounds Russian, or about thirty-six pounds avoir- 
dupois, as the Russian pfeund is about fourteen ounces 
avoirdupois as against the American pound of sixteen. 
Sugar is valued at one rouble per pound ; but venison, 



250 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

beef, horse-flesh, and fire- wood are not very expensive. 
Yet all the necessaries of life, — everything which re- 
deems it from a primitive state, — are costly in the 
extreme. Some of the exiles had wealthy relatives who 
sent them money, but such sums could not exceed three 
hundred roubles at one payment, and the mails are very 
irregular, often but once in six months, though there 
may be a mail at odd intervals throughout the winter, 
whenever a copert or some official has occasion to go 
over the road. Yet no sealed package of any kind is 
suffered to go or come from an exile; everything must 
be opened, and read or examined by the espravnick of 
the district, or the post or police master, and perhaps 
appropriated. 

My coming filled them with the wildest hopes, for 
heretofore it had been considered as impossible to effect 
an escape by the ice of the Arctic Ocean as to cross a 
living sea of fire ; and doubtless for them it would be, as 
there was not a sea-faring man in their number, or one, I 
suspect, who had ever seen the rolling ocean. Yet before 
I left they told me that they intended to make the 
attempt, and I ardently hoped that it might be crowned 
with success. For here I saw youth, intelligence, and 
refinement immured for life in an Arctic desert, with no 
companionship of books or cultivated society, surrounded 
by filthy and disgusting Yakuts, who were partly their 
keepers. For the natives are held strictly accountable, 
under penalty of the dreaded knout and imprisonment, 
for the escape of an exile, since it is utterly out of the 
question for any one to travel a great distance into the 
country without their aid or knowledge. As a guest of 
the nation and a continuing recipient of its succor and 
hospitality, I could not honorably abet the exiles in their 
plans for escape ; yet as a Republican I am free to say 
that all my sympathies were with them, — the oppressed 
for speech sake. For it was one of these young men 



FROM BELUN TO VERKERANSK. 251 

who told me that all they asked and strove for was a 
constitutional form of government, let the constitution 
be what it might. They only wanted the privilege of 
being imprisoned, and hanged, if needs be, under a Rus- 
sian law and constitution ; and not driven like a herd of 
sheep by the police master of a town or city into prison 
or exile, without the benefit of trial before any tribunal, 
or if a mock hearing could be had, as in Leon's case, yet 
not before such an administrator, who on his very com- 
mitment papers would record himself a judicial ass. 

Still, Leon, in his character of interpreter, obtained for 
himself and companions the full benefit of my recountal 
to Kasharofski of the Jeannette's cruise and equipment; 
our retreat, supplies, clothing, and line of march. The 
youngest of the exiles, called the " Little Blacksmith," 
had been a polytechnic scholar, and seemed to be the 
physicist in general of the party. He gazed fondly on the 
sextant in my possession ; for with it he could find his 
way across the tundra and the ocean. They had watches 
and compasses, but no means of determining latitude, or 
tables for computing longitude. So this earnest young 
Nihilist began the construction of a sextant, and had 
already his navigation tables in course of preparation, 
using a Russian almanac to find the sun's declinations, 
etc. It was their intention to build a boat on the Jana 
River, near Verkeransk, and attempt a passage of one 
thousand miles to the sea-board, and then a voyage of 
nearly two thousand miles along the coast of Siberia to 
East Cape or Behring Strait. 

I afterwards learned with regret that they had indeed 
essayed, but unsuccessfully, to carry their bold project 
into effect. Eluding their pursuers, they succeeded, after 
many difficulties, in working their way down the Jana, 
past a large village near its mouth, to within sight of the 
sea, and could then have accomplished their escape with 
comparative ease ; but the rolling waves paralyzed them 



252 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

with terror and tumbled into the boat, which was over- 
laden with its freight of thirteen exiles ; and when they 
ran ashore it swamped and soaked their provisions. One 
of their number was a young woman, of whom more 
anon ; but even she was made of sterner stuff than the 
two others who, frightened at their situation, straightway 
surrendered themselves to the authorities at Oceansk, 
who soon after captured the rest and sent them all into 
worse exile, if possible, than before. Leon was for- 
warded to the river Kolyma, and others were removed 
from the settled districts, and placed among the Yakuts. 
And what else could I do but admire them and their 
pluck, whose greatest offenses had been boyish indis- 
cretions, rows in the streets, for none of them had yet 
become master of his profession ? And so, in the eyes of 
every American, born to believe that free speech and a 
free press are absolute and indefeasible rights, must the 
overwhelming and horrible punishment meted out to 
these exiled youth appear shamefully despotic and cruel. 



25 E~| 




CHAPTER XIX. 
FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 

Penavitch. — Doctor Buali. — His Sad Story. — Those Terrible Ni- 
hilists. — " A Dead Nihilist and a Dead Czar." —Happy Lovers. 
— I take a Remarkable Russian Bath, and a Very Bad Cold. — 
Off to Yakutsk. — Siberian Scenery. — The Horse and his Trou- 
bles. _ A Queer Predicament. — Kangerack. — Crossing the Di- 
vide. _ A Dangerous Descent. — A Tunguse Home.— Exasperat- 
ing Yamshicks. — A Sickening Sight. — Native Grist-Mills. — A 
Learned Exile. — The Scaups. 

During my sojourn at Verkeransk, there arrived from 
Yakutsk a police agent named Penavitch, who was like- 
wise one of General TschernaiefFs secretaries. He and 
Kasharofski were warm friends, and while in Verkeransk 
he stopped at the house of the espravnick. I made ar- 
rangements to ride back with him to Yakutsk, and so 
awaited with increasing anxiety the arrival of Bartlett 
and party. 

Penavitch was a great, jolly, good fellow, and he took 
me to visit some of the coperts in the town, who, after a 
manner, were also choice spirits ; ever ready to make a 
rouble, but good-livers and hospitable to a degree beyond 
their means. They all wear a peculiar dress prescribed 
by their guild, which consists chiefly in allowing their 
long woolen shirts to hang outside their trousers, broadly 
belted in, however, at the waist, and I saw the embryo 
Yakut copert sailing about, in imitation of his white in- 
structor, with his colored flannel shirt flying to the 
breeze. 



254 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

I also visited another exile, named Dr. Buali (White), 
who lived apart from his companions, and was then per- 
forming the duties of the government surgeon, who had 
become blind from a cataract and was about leaving the 
district to have it removed. Dr. Buali had been very 
kind in his attentions to Danenhower and Leach, and it 
was he who had prepared the box of medicines forwarded 
to us at Belun. His life held more of sorrow in it than 
that of most men. He had been a practicing physician 
in one of the small cities of Little Russia, or the Crimea ; 
had neither committed any crime or ever belonged to any 
secret society ; and he seemed to believe that his only of- 
fense had been the marrying of the lady whom he loved, 
in a neighboring village ; for he knew not that he had a 
rival. 

The story of his capture and removal to Verkeransk 
was tearfully translated to me by Leon, his friend and 
comrade in misery. It seems that for a week he had 
been attending the little daughter of the police master, 
who at length so far recovered that he erased her name 
from his visiting list. But one morning he was surprised 
to receive a call from the police master's Cossack, who 
said his presence was demanded at once at the house of 
his master, for the child was seized with another attack 
of illness. 

" I imagine it is not serious," Buali had replied ; " I 
will be there after breakfast." 

But the Cossack insisted upon instant attendance, and 
so he bade him wait until he got his coat, but here again 
the Cossack interposed, saying that it was not necessary, 
the house was only a little distance off, and that the po- 
lice master intended that he should breakfast there. So, 
dreading lest the child might indeed be seriously ill, he 
hastened off at once, but on the way the Cossack said 
they must first go to the office of his master. He fol- 
lowed wonderingly, but never for a moment dreamed 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 255 

that anything was wrong ; and so he was ushered into 
the police office, and later into an anteroom, where the 
police master told him he was a prisoner. 

" A body of exiles," said the heartless wretch, " are 
ready to start for Siberia, and you will go with them." 

Buali laughed — it was a good joke, but the police 
master assured him it was a solemn fact ; and then the 
poor man, completely overwhelmed, prayed gaspingly for 
a delay in his transportation. Why was he deprived of 
his liberty ? Who was his accuser ? What was the ac- 
cusation ? No answer save " Administrative order." 

But could he not revisit his house under guard, and se- 
cure certain necessary articles of clothing ? Could he not 
at least return and say farewell to his young wife? The 
brutal officer denied him everything ; "And then," he said, 
"I wailed in anguish, but they placed me in solitary con- 
finement to await the departure of the draft, and in 
twelve hours I was on my way to Siberia." 

Of course, he was half-crazed. What would become of 
his young wife — what would she think of him? Doubt- 
less, that he had deserted her. A thousand thoughts and 
suspicions racked his mind, and he had already lived 
through an age of torture, when, hurried on across the 
frontier by rail and steamboat, he chanced at a certain 
railway station to recognize, from the cage-carriage in 
which he was confined, an old merchant friend. Calling 
to him eagerly, he briefly told the great wrong done him, 
while the train halted at the station, and supplicated his 
friend to visit his wife and relations and inform them of 
his fate. 

And here let it be known that immediately upon his 
sentence an exile loses his identity — John Brown ceases 
to be John Brown, and becomes "Number 101;" his 
estate is administered upon as though he were dead, and 
apportioned, with the usual forfeiture to the state, among 
his heirs. So that it is almost impossible for any one, 



256 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

save the authorities, to trace out and discover his where- 
abouts. 

When Dr. Buali had arrived at Irkutsk he was de- 
tained there for some time, and meanwhile his friend, 
the merchant, true to his promise, had hastened to tell 
the circumstances and conditions of his ♦ banishment to 
the poor young bride ; who, quickly as she could, set out 
to join him in exile. With womanly wit she managed 
to apprise him by letter of her coming, and a light broke 
in upon his grief. Daily, hourly, constantly he looked 
and longed for her, and just when he knew she must 
come, they sent him on to Yakutsk, and from thence to 
Verkeransk. 

She, poor creature, filled with sweet sympathy and 
expectation, hoping from his delay at Irkutsk that he 
would be permanently detained there, arrived two days 
too late. Picture her anguish — when, having traveled 
with wifely devotion 4,000 miles over the worst country 
in the world, she learned the cruel news. Still 2,000 
miles away ; and even then would she find him ! It was 
too much for the poor heart ; she lost her reason ; raved 
for a little while in a madhouse, and died. He received 
the sorrowful tidings, so different from what he had ex- 
pected ; and when I saw him he was just recovered from 
the effects of a suicidal attempt by poison. 

This is the. sad story of one of the friends whom I met 
at Verkeransk, as told by himself and interpreted to me 
by Leon. Dr. Buali was not a Nihilist, or at all intem- 
perate in his political views, and consequently was not 
held in the highest favor by Leon and his companions. 
He was on pleasant visiting terms, however, with the 
espravnick and others, who liked him cordially for his 
own sake ; yet he was not permitted to practice his pro- 
fession for profit, but only to perform the duties of the 
blind old incumbent at the post, from whom he might 
receive little or no recompense, just as that worthy offi- 
cial saw fit. 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 257 

Indeed, no exile is allowed to carry on any business, 
teach school, till the soil, labor at a trade, practice a pro- 
fession, or engage in any work otherwise than through 
the medium of a master. If I wanted any service, an 
exile would sometimes come and offer to perform it, but 
I would have to pay his master, upon whose bounty he 
must depend for remuneration. This is a monstrous 
mistake. Russia has been striving in vain to populate 
Siberia for a thousand years, and she will never succeed 
as long as she continues in her present policy of convert- 
ing the land into a vast penitentiary, wherein the pris- 
oners are prevented from making an honest livelihood, 
and so driven, if criminals, to a further commission of 
crime. Beyond doubt there are rogues of the very worst 
type in Russia and Siberia, but certainly it is plain that 
their mode of punishment will never tend to elevate or 
reform them; and it is utterly impossible that Siberia, 
under its present system of government, should ever be 
populated or improved, as have been the penal colonies of 
the French and English. 

The ignorant Yakuts are very fearful of the whole 
class of exiles, for they are told exaggerated stories of the 
atrocities of the Nihilists ; and the police officials are 
ever on their guard for an outbreak or revolt. I was 
much amused at Kasharofski, who told me that he lived 
in constant terror lest some of the exiles should assas- 
sinate him. He showed me a long knife and a revol- 
ver, which always went to bed with him, he said; and 
every night a Cossack slept in the outer apartment. 
Leon, too, assured me of all this, saying that he and 
his comrades found a never-failing source of fun in the 
frightening of the police master, the Cossack guard, and 
the trading merchants, who would sell them goods at 
a ruinous discount, in order, as indeed they would ex- 
plicitly state, to curry their favor and avoid their ven- 
geance. 

17 



258 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

"But," said Leon and his friends. " why should we 
kill these poor creatures ? What good would it do ? 
To be sure, if their death might secure our freedom, we 
would not mind killing a thousand ; but such is not the 
case." 

Another episode in the life of the exiles at Verke- 
ransk, and I will abandon them to their sorrows. I have 
noted that the walls of their miserable habitation were 
decorated with illustrated papers ; but in addition to 
these there were two prominent pictures : one a photo- 
graph, and the other a wood-cut or print from some jour- 
nal. They faced each other on opposite sides of the 
room, and I stood looking at them, struck by their simi- 
larity ; for the wood-cut I recognized as a portrait of the 
dead Czar. He lay in state near a window, dressed in 
his cerements, his hands holding a crucifix and resting 
on his breast. 

One of the exiles, Artzibucheff, observing my silent 
comparison of the two pictures, approached and said : — 

" The two men are very much alike, are they not ? " 

They certainly were ; faces sharp and peaked in death, 
hair and beards arranged the same ; I thought both were 
likenesses of the Czar, and said so. The exile smiled : — 

" No," said he ; " the photograph is one of my brother, 
who perished of cold and hunger in the horrible dun- 
geons of the fortress of Petropavlosk, on the Neva. His 
body was photographed on his bier near one of the gun- 
ports, which lias the appearance of the palace window 
wherein is laid out the corpse of the Czar. My brother 
was murdered in the fortress ; my friends murdered the 
Czar in his palace ; i things that are equal are equal in 
all their parts ; ' a dead Nihilist and a dead Czar! " 

He laughed, and added that because of his brother's 
death he had been arrested and sent into exile ; that he 
had a sweetheart to whom he was affianced, and that 
she, too, had been banished as far as Archangel ; but as 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 259 

it was no remittance of her sentence to be transported to 
Eastern Siberia, she had been granted permission to join 
her lover at Verkeransk. He was a typical Nihilist, as 
portrayed in our comic papers, with long, bushy black 
hair, combed out until it resembled a mop-head ; dark- 
skinned, and fine-cut in feature and figure, with eyes 
and mind as bright as the Dog-star. He told me gayly 
that he expected his sweetheart every day, and that if I 
failed to see her at Verkeransk, I should certainly meet 
her on the road. And sure enough, I did, on the after- 
noon of my departure. She was young and attractive, 
of medium height and excellent form ; her eyes and hair 
were light, her nose slightly retroussS, and her mouth as 
pretty, pouting, and cherry-red as one would care to see. 
She had with her a number of French books, of which, 
she said, she intended to make translations. She spoke 
French and German fluently, but knew very little Eng- 
lish ; and at this time I only saw her for a few minutes, 
but met her afterwards when going north and returning 
from my second search. 

On the evening of December 15th, Bartlett and party 
arrived safely from Belun, and 1 instantly set about mak- 
ing the necessary arrangements for their transportation 
to Yakutsk. They were capitally quartered at the resi- 
dence of the Cossack commandant, where they had plenty 
of good food and enough vodki to make them merry. 
Before their arrival I had a sufficient supply of bread 
baked, and beef killed, cut up into proper sizes, and 
frozen for their journey. I was now suffering from a 
severe cold, the first I had caught since leaving the 
United States, and it occurred in the following way. 

Upon my reaching the house of the espravnick, he 
doubtless suspected my cleanliness, as well, indeed, he 
might, for I had suspicions in the same direction myself ; 
so, when he proposed a bath, I gladly consented. He 
then ordered a Cossack to prepare the bath, and brought 



260 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

forth some clean under-clothing and a suit of gray cloth 
for me. 

" You are acquainted with the bath ? " he inquired. 

" Oh, yes," said I, for I could not think of any intri- 
cacies in the operation which might not be learned at a 
glance. 

So, headed by the Cossack, who carried my clothing, 
towels, etc., I set out for the bath-house, which was 
located about one hundred yards from the main dwelling. 
I found it to be a square box of a building, perhaps eight 
by ten feet, and seven feet high ; the door was covered 
with an ox-hide and felted, to keep out the cold ; the 
floor was earthen ; and in a corner stood the stone-fur- 
nace and chimney. The furniture of the room was com- 
posed of one stool and a small table ; two large tubs 
filled with water, one hot and the other cold, with cakes 
of ice floating in it ; two shelves, one about two feet 
from the ground, the other about five feet, and both 
broad enough for the bather to lie out upon ; several 
small wooden vessels ; an iron dipper ; and then, beside 
my under-clothing and towels, a couple of sheets intended 
for wrappers. I noticed a large hole in the side of the 
furnace from which the flames and gases were rushing 
into the room, for a board had been placed on top of the 
chimney as a damper. 

And now the Cossack told me to undress. I did so. 
He next filled the dipper with water, and asked me if I 
was ready; I said, "Yes," and he then cast the water 
through the aperture into the glowing furnace. Instantly 
a thick volume of steam burst forth, and the Ccfcsaek, 
looking at me a moment, said, "More?" I assented, 
and he threw in another dipperful, whereupon the upper 
part of the building filled with steam. He glanced at 
me askance, and asked again — " More ? " 

"Yes, yes," said I, impatiently; "heave it in, ma- 
norga ! " 






FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 261 

Quick as thought he dashed two or three dipperfuls of 
water into the furnace, and then, dodging his head, bolted 
out of doors as though he had hurled a keg of powder 
into the fire. 

Two candles were burning in the room, — one on the 
table, the other on the upper shelf. This latter was ex- 
tinguished in an instant. I relighted it at the other, and, 
apprehending my plight, set them both on the floor, 
where they burned with a blue light. Meanwhile the 
scalding hot steam was lowering nearer and nearer to my 
head. I crouched down, but it followed me. The can- 
dles flickered, and were going out ; evidently I could not 
stay in the dark and be smothered or scalded to death. 
So, without thinking of the sheets, I threw myself against 
the low door and shot forth into the open air and snow, 
the dense steam, literally in hot pursuit, pouring out 
after me. 

The Cossack had fled in dismay to the house ; and 
there I stood abiding the exit of the steam, in nothing 
but my skin, dancing up and down in a temperature of 
about sixty degrees below zero. It was not long, how- 
ever, before I could see a current of cold air rushing in 
beneath my inflamed enemy, and I crept back in its 
wake, and, when things were cooled off, closed the door 
and leisurely bathed in one of the tubs, tempering the 
water to suit myself. When I at length found my way 
back to the house, and told Kasharofski of my escapade, 
he said the Cossack was under the impression I had de- 
liberately boiled myself ; and, indeed, I was so badly 
affected that Bartlett's first exclamation upon meeting 
me was, " Why, what have they been doing to you ? " 

Perhaps it was the change of clothing, but at any rate 
the cold clung to me until I again began living in the 
open air, and slept once more on top of a sled. 

The time of my departure from Verkeransk was set 
for the morning of December 18th, but the espravnick 



262 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

had a large mail to send, and, of course, postponed pre- 
paring it until just before I was ready to start, so it was 
midnight when we at length set out. Before leaving, 
Kasharofski told me that he had received information 
from the Kolyma River that nothing had been heard of 
the second cutter or her people ; for as soon as my tel- 
egram had passed through his hands he had sent word 
to the espravnick of the Kolyma at Kolymsk to keep a 
bright lookout for any stranger that might turn up on 
the coast. 

My journey to Yakutsk, although made for the most 
part by reindeer, was not so rapid as that between Be km 
and Verkeransk. Yet in winter this trip is one of won- 
drous beauty : cold, forsooth, but the deep dark woods, 
with their little glimpses of sky ; the dashing along under 
the low -reaching arms of the evergreen trees, league 
after league of forest bowed down to the very earth, and, 
in places, prostrated with its white weight of snow ; the 
weird ride over hill and mountain, skirting ravine and 
precipice ; the breaks along and across the numerous 
water-courses, over rude bridges, or along deep gullies 
where rough wooden guards preserved the teams from 
disaster, — with this quick succession of scenery wild and 
strange was I kept constantly awake and charmed. 

At the stancias we met the traveling merchants with 
their long trains of goods, hauled by reindeer or packed 
on the backs of horses. Five pood is the regulation 
load, and all packages are put up in drums, bound with 
raw-hide, and so strapped that they can easily be trans- 
ported by the pack-horse, which carries a half load on 
either side of a saddle-tree prepared for the purpose. 
Many of the merchants employ horses and reindeer the 
whole year round for the transportation of their goods. 
The stancias are let by the government to agents, who 
sublet them to the Yakuts or other bidders, who, in turn, 
keep them in repair and transport passengers and freight 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 263 

at the rate of three copecks per verst for a passenger, 
and three copecks per verst for each five pood of freight. 
Of course there is an endless wrangle going on between 
the station - keeper and the traveler or merchant. At 
times we would encounter a great train of pack-horses 
hitched to each other's tail, with a conductor riding 
alongside or in front, and another horseman in the rear 
to look after any stray animals or lost merchandise. 

In this section of Siberia there are a great many 
draught-horses and cattle, which latter are housed dur- 
ing the winter months, and generally under the same 
roof with their owners — often in the same apartments. 
The horses, however, I noticed, were not stabled even in 
the severest weather ; excepting, of course, those of the 
rich, which are only used for carriages or sleighs. The 
poor animals are compelled to dig down through the deep 
snow in search of grass or any herbage, like the reindeer 
after their moss. The grasses though coarse are sweet 
and nourishing, for the short hot summer has scarcely 
brought them into life, when winter comes quickly on, 
freezing and preserving their nutritious juices ; yet the 
Siberian horse, like the Spanish mule, does not limit his 
diet to grass alone, but can apparently eat hickory hoop- 
poles. As he stumbles and staggers along under heavy 
loads, I have seen him crop the twigs and branches of 
the birch, yew, and scrub pine. The stancia horses, in- 
deed, receive better treatment, for they are fed on hay, 
cut and cured during the summer ; but north of Yakutsk 
it is very rare that a horse receives any attention or shel- 
ter. They are to be seen as far as Verkeransk, and many 
wild horses roam the snowy plains ; yet of these I saw 
but few. The horse-driver carries a wooden sword, in 
one edge of which is inserted a roughly-toothed saw, and 
with this he scrapes off the rime and snow from the 
horses when they halt to rest or arrive at a stancia. 

We traveled the first part of our journey, as far as 



264 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Kangerack station, by deer-teams. In crossing one of 
the tributaries of the Jana River, which scatters itself 
into a series of ponds and lakes, we suddenly found our- 
selves in a queer predicament ; for although the temper- 
ature was down to minus 40° Reaumur, still there were 
from ten to fifteen inches of water on the bed of the 
river ; and, ere we could grasp the situation, the yamshiclcs 
had driven directly into it. The ice beneath us was very 
slippery, so the deer were unable to keep on their feet, 
and floundered hopelessly around in the water, which had 
here spread itself over several miles of ice. The deer 
attached to the sled of Penavitch fell down, and the 
drivers, who had dismounted and were splashing about 
in water over their boot tops, carried my big friend to 
the bank, where he had a lonely walk of a mile or two to 
perform. Meanwhile, the natives managed, after consid- 
erable difficulty, to get and maintain the prostrate deer 
in an upright position ; and my yamshick succeeded, by 
wading and leading our two teams, which had not en- 
tirely lost their equilibrium, in reaching and scaling the 
steep bank. This flooding of the ice, which the Yakuts 
consider very dangerous, is caused by the hydraulic pres- 
sure up stream, which raises the ice-bed and finally bursts 
it open ; and the water continues to overflow until the 
pressure is relieved, when it freezes in again. 

But here we were at midnight, thirty versts from a 
stancia or povarnia, with the temperature so low that I 
shiver to think of it. Luckily the Yakuts knew of a hut 
in the woods, and thither we went, where they built a 
fire and dried their boots and clothing ; and Penavitch 
won their best regards by giving each a drink of vodki. 
At daylight we were off again, threading our way around 
the flooded ice; and Penavitch, who, I noticed, as well as 
the yamshicks, had been very much excited, took occasion 
to tell me that these overflows are very dangerous ; that 
they sometimes occur with so much force that travelers 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 265 

are drowned ; and whole teams, deer, drivers, and passen- 
gers, have been found frozen to death, where the waters 
suddenly rushed upon and soaked them. 

It was dark on the 24th day of December when we ar- 
rived at the Kangerack stancia. Here we met a fine, fat 
copert just from Yakutsk, who knew my traveling com- 
panion, and was full of good nature and other good 
things ; and the enthusiastic fellow expended his time 
and treasure in giving a swell dinner to the first Amer- 
ican he had ever seen. We were obliged to rest here, as 
it is the last deer-station on the road toward Yakutsk, 
and is located at the mountain divide between the dis- 
tricts of Verkeransk and Yakutsk. Next day, however, 
we got under way about ten P. M., and traveled all night, 
crossing the divide about twelve o'clock. 

It was severely cold — ah ! ferociously so, from minus 
40°-45 Reaumur ; but the soft, clear moonlight was gor- 
geous and glorious. We were about 4,500 feet above the 
level of the sea ; the mountains were grandly wild ; and, 
stripped for the purpose, we toiled up their steep ascent 
on foot, with the teams plodding slowly on in front. 
Above us on either side, the gigantic peaks lifted their 
hoary heads far into the blue vault of heaven ; silent, 
frigid, and white. Ah I what grandeur ! I rejoiced that 
it was night, and so cold and still; for they filled me with 
an awe, those snowy summits bathed in the silver radi- 
ance of an Arctic moon, such as I had never known be- 
fore. And though I twice recrossed the divide, yet the 
spell was not upon me as on that wonderful night, and 
the splendor I then saw can never depart my memory. 

Arrived at the summit of the gorge, we halted for a 
while, and then the four sleds were lashed together, two 
abreast, with a driver sitting on each bow, and the rein- 
deer hitched behind. When everything was ready, the 
natives worked the sleds to the edge of the divide, and 
over they flashed. I expected to see them roll in a heap ; 



266 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

but no ; they steered with their feet, while the deer held 
back, and kept safely on for about one hundred yards, 
when they stopped in the deep snow, until the frightened 
animals had quieted down ; and then sped on again for a 
mile and a half. The incline was so steep that it was 
with difficulty I could stand upon it; consequently, I sat 
down, with a stick in my hand, and at once shot off like 
a sky-rocket. In vain I tried to control my speed by 
jabbing the staff in the snow between my legs, but it 
only slewed my body around, the heavy part taking the 
advance like the ball of a shuttle-cock, and away I went, 
sliding, tumbling, and rolling, until I at length brought 
up near the sleds, considerably confused at my rapid de- 
scent. And I had rather a chilly time of it, stripping in 
the open air to rid my clothing of its burden of snow, 
which, to say the least, was very unpleasant next my 
flesh ; not to dwell upon the peculiar sensation produced 
by a pool of cold snow-water in the convex section of my 
trousers. 

Towards daylight we came upon a band of wandering 
Tunguses, who were camped in a ravine under a ragged 
tent made of birch-bark and reindeer-skins. The lower 
part, for a height of about three feet, was carried up ver- 
tically as a cylinder, and then the skins were stretched 
around poles which inclined to a tapering cone. The in- 
mates were very miserable ; two or three women and a 
litter of children, covered with tattered furs, lay around 
the floor, and a sickly fire smouldered in the centre of 
the tent. At this we prepared our tea, and the women 
brought forth their kettle to brew our leaves over for 
themselves. Soon we were on again, and next halted at 
a povamia, to find a poor woman who had just given 
birth to a little Yakut. Our drivers built a fire, warming 
up the hut, and we made tea and gave her some. She 
seemed happy and healthy, and had her baby stowed 
away in a wooden bowl. 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 267 

The Yakuts were becoming more squalid and filthy as 
we journeyed south from the ocean ; those living closest 
to Yakutsk being the most disgusting in their appear- 
ance and habits, and apparently devoid of any moral 
sense. They all live under the same roof with their 
cows, some, however, with a partition of bars between 
their apartment and the cattle stalls. A wealth of pa- 
tience is here required to cope with the exasperating lazi- 
ness of the yamshicks. When the team is hitched and 
the traveler is about stepping into the sleigh, his driver 
drawls, — " Just one minute ; I have not smoked ; " 
which usually means he has not dined, or drunk his tea, 
or smoked his pipe, or teaed again, until he has pro- 
tracted the delay to an hour or two. I could not hurry 
them up, try as I would. If necessary, they stole away 
to a neighbor's and drank tea, and then more tea, while I 
vainly scoured the woods and ransacked the stables in 
search of them. 

At one place where we stopped for several hours, the 
natives had a dead horse in the hut, where, I think, he 
had died. The carcass was intact, save where they had 
partly turned back the skin from the stomach to the 
hock-joints of the hind legs, and had cut and eaten the 
flesh from the haunches. The animal was not even dis- 
emboweled, and the stench which arose from it was so 
intolerable that I crawled into my sleeping-bag and lay 
on top of the sled, in preference to staying in the hut, 
while we waited for a relay of horses. But the natives 
sliced off the meat and cooked it without wincing at the 
sickening sight and odor. And yet there is a large quan- 
tity of beef raised for the Yakutsk markets and the gold 
mines to the southward, though, it is true, the natives, 
when they have paid their taxes, have little left of any- 
thing, and the tax-gatherer in Siberia is inexorable. 

Nearly all first-class huts are furnished with primitive 
grist - mills, in which the natives grind a few grains of 



268 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

rye at a time, and bake the meal on the end of a stick or 
stir it into the hot milk. These mills are made of two 
blocks of wood cut from a poplar or other large tree 
trunk. One section or block is set up on three legs, with 
a pin in the centre to receive the upper and revolving 
millstone. Around the periphery of the nether block 
runs a bull's-hide shield, which catches the meal as it is 
ground, and delivers it at an inclination or dip into a re- 
ceptacle placed on the floor. In the top stone is inserted 
an upright handle for one or two persons to turn; and oc- 
casionally a hole is bored which receives a staff suspended 
from the ceiling, and two women sitting opposite to each 
other twist this around, one of them from time to time 
dropping a pinch of grain into the orifice of the top block. 
I was at first a little surprised at the capital manner in 
which these rude machines performed their work ; but 
upon lifting off the upper half I found that the wily 
Yakut had set at a proper depth small cubes of flint 
stone into the faces of both blocks. The meal is coarse 
and unbolted ; but then the husks go to fill the abhorred 
vacuum, which at the Delta in times of famine I have 
seen filled with wood. When the grist is ground it is 
kneaded upon a stick, usually in the shape of a large cu- 
cumber, and stuck in the ashes and slowly turned before 
the fire ; though, at times, it is kneaded in the shape of 
a fan, or baked on a board set up at an angle in front of 
the fire. 

Truly the Yakuts lead a wretched existence, and the 
Yakut women especially. They all beg, lie, and steal ; 
are ragged, diseased, and unclean. As we approached 
Yakutsk I noticed that the number of blind old men and 
women did not decrease, and that the mode of ablution 
by squirting water into the hands and then applying it 
to the face, thus transmitting the syphilitic virus or 
lymph from the mouth to the eyes, was common to all. 
In these miserable huts I found, now and then, one or 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 269 

more exiles, political or criminal, quartered upon the 
natives. Among the exiles, too, there were many Jews, 
known to both Yakut and Russian as Judes ; who, true 
to their instinct, were all strenuously striving, though 
poor as church mice, to do a little trade. 

The exiles ! A witching theme, and one upon which, 
with space and leisure at my command, I could love to 
dilate ; for I saw and heard so much of them that I am 
sure would interest the reader. Fancy a poet and litte- 
rateur, one of those rare Russian souls whose wonder- 
working effusions must ultimately enlighten and enfran- 
chise the people — a Turgenieff — immured for life in 
this snowy desert. Yet there was such a one, and even 
the savagery of his surroundings could not dispirit him 
or cool the ardor of his genius. From his prolific pen 
flowed a ceaseless stream of learning and of light; he 
wrote and wrote, and in the writing forgot his wrongs 
and sorrows. The authorities were overjoyed to see him 
in this mood ; they fostered his rich whim, for his fame 
had gone before him, and they established him in better 
quarters where he might lay his golden eggs for them to 
seize and sell, and they gave him servants, who might 
watch and see that none of the eggs were lost ; and even 
the bishop of the diocese could find it in his heart to ap- 
propriate and make capital of the learned exile's transla- 
tion of the Bible. 

But soon he saw all this, and came to realize how 
precious he had grown in the eyes of his captors, and so 
he shrewdly sought to use his talents for his own advan- 
tage. A Cossack, who bore a marked resemblance to 
him, — his double, — was diligently searched for and 
finally found in the empire. To secure his services ; to 
transport him to Siberia ; to train and cut his beard, edu- 
cate his manner and accent, and, in fine, model his per- 
son upon the exile's until, in appearance, they were one 
and the same, and the deception was all but perfect; — 



270 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

to accomplish this the exile labored with superhuman 
powers, and the fecundity of his brain increased under 
the stimulating, the intoxicating hope of freedom, — one 
blessed hour of which is said to be worth a whole eter- 
nity of bondage. And at last the glorious day arrived 
when, leaving his well-trained doable to act his part and 
cover his escape, the joyous exile, his liberty achieved, 
set forth upon his hazardous journey, — a journey which 
he never ended ; for, alas ! the fickleness of fortune and 
of friends as well ! there came a slip in his plans, a cog 
was missing, his hopes were dashed to the ground, — he 
was apprehended, and buried alive again, this time be- 
yond the possibility of resurrection. 

The best clad and happiest of all the exiles whom 
I saw in Siberia were those known as the " Scaups." 
They are a religious sect, whose doctrines of late years 
have widely spread throughout the empire, and whose 
votaries seem to defy the efforts of the Russian govern- 
ment to crush them out. A peculiarity of the sect is that 
it can only acquire new members by recruital, since both 
sexes so mutilate their persons that they can neither be- 
get nor bear children. They do not live apart, however, 
except in the manner of the American Shakers, with 
which people they seem very well acquainted, and de- 
nominate them as the " Wet," and themselves as the 
" Dry Scaups." They study all the economies of nature, 
and neither drink spirits nor eat flesh ; they live in com- 
munities under the police, are invariably farmers when 
permitted to be, and, like the Shakers, send every vari- 
ety of produce to the markets. Somehow or other, the 
women seldom leave the communities, and the men can- 
not ; though I saw one woman who had apostatized, and 
borne a child to her new spouse ; but owing to the mu- 
tilation of her mammillary glands, she was unable to 
suckle her babe. 

The men, of whom I saw very many along the banks 



FROM VERKERANSK TO YAKUTSK. 271 

of the Upper Lena, were all large, fat, bloated fellows, 
devoid of color or very sallow, and beardless as a rule, 
for the beards of those who might manage to grow any 
would slowly fall out. I found them for the most part 
intelligent, but not at all bright; they were stolid and 
flabby like stalled oxen. In conversation with a group 
of them who came on market-day to dine at our hotel at 
Yakutsk, I was asked if we had none of their sect in the 
United States. No, I told them, but we had in Utah 
their antithesis, the Mormons. They apparently saw no 
joke in my allusion, and said, " Yes, they had heard of 
the polygamists, and thought they were very sinful." 
Yet they seemed to be the only rich and prosperous peo- 
ple in the vicinity of Yakutsk, for they are sober, frugal, 
and industrious, and General Tschernaieff informed me 
that previous to their advent every pound of flour used 
in Yakutsk was imported from the southern provinces, 
while now they are exporting grain, meal, beef, butter, 
and vegetables. The general believed that the one ob- 
ject of the Scaups was to accumulate an abundance of 
this world's goods, and that their religion was merely a 
means of shirking the responsibility of raising families ; 
and so it certainly seemed; but I presume the main- 
spring of their prosperity is no other than their total ab- 
stinence from intoxicating drink, which is a clog and a 
curse not only to Russia but to all the world beside. I 
had many dealings with the Scaups, and found them uni- 
formly upright and honest; something which I cannot 
say of any other people I met in Siberia, except General 
Tschernaieff, Epatchieff, the assistant espravnick of Ver- 
keransk, and Carpuff, the lieutenant of police. 



CHAPTER XX. 
AT YAKUTSK. 

The " Balogan Americanski." — General Tschernaieff. — How He 
received me. — Mr. Danenhower and Party set out for America. 
— Instructions from the Department. — Praesnik. — Preparations 
for my Second Search. — Yakutsk Society. — New Year's Eve. — 
Nova Goat. — The Bishop receives. — Masquerading. — Bulky 
Money. 

I arrived at Yakutsk about an hour after noon of 
December 30th, 1881, the journey of 960 versts having 
consumed twelve days, or more than double the time re- 
quired in going from Belun to Verkeransk. The last 
two hundred and fifty or three hundred versts had been 
especially tedious, and the Yakuts, living in their cow- 
stables, incredibly disgusting. The stancias were close 
together, not more than twenty or thirty versts apart; 
and we passed through several deserted villages of from 
twenty to thirty yaurtas. I asked Penavitch why they 
were deserted, and he said the inhabitants had all died 
of small-pox. 

I was driven direct to the Balogan Americanski, where 
Mr. Danenhower and the sailors were lodged. The bal- 
ogan was a government house, for the use of which I 
paid a small weekly sum, and was located across the way 
from the Guestnitsa Hotel, kept by Madame Lempert, 
who fed the party at the daily rate of one rouble apiece. 
I found all the men enjoying themselves greatly, dressed 
in tight -fitting boots, white shirts, and choker collars. 
They seemed comfortable and happy, and were already 
on visiting terms with the inhabitants. Many, too, had 



AT YAKUTSK. 273 

sweethearts, and, I fear, had they stayed much longer 
some would have had wives. Poor Jack Cole, I was 
grieved to see, had lost his mind entirely, but he was in 
the best of spirits, and told me that he had a body-ser- 
vant now, and intended to marry Queen Victoria. 

I learned from Mr. Danenhower that when they 
reached Yakutsk, they were first driven, as is customary 
upon the arrival of strangers, to the police station ; but 
he informed the police master who he was, and demanded 
an audience of General Tschernaieff, which was granted 
at once ; Dr. Capello, the district physician and inspector 
of hospitals, acting as interpreter. The general received 
him cordially, provided him with everything he wished, 
or that the place could afford ; quartered the men at 
the government house, and placed them to board with 
Madame Lempert, beside loaning money from his pri- 
vate purse for the use of the party. He had also in- 
sisted that Mr. Danenhower should dine with him every 
afternoon at two o'clock ; and as I had arrived at one 
P. M., I promptly prepared to pay my respects to the 
general. His sleigh came as usual for Mr. Danenhower, 
and together we repaired in it to the gubernatorial man- 
sion, which, compared with the balance of dwellings in 
Yakutsk, is a house of imposing dimensions ; built, like 
all others, of wood, part square and part round timber; 
and located at the corner of a street, surrounded by a 
fenced inclosure containing stables, servants' houses, and 
other buildings. 

The general is a bachelor, sixty-two years of age, — 
twent}M3ne years of which he has spent in Siberia. He 
is two inches taller than six feet, straight as a spear-shaft, 
and rather spare ; with full flowing white hair and beard, 
large aquiline nose, handsome face and carriage, a very 
soldierly air and bearing ; and he was always dressed in 
uniform which fitted him neatly. His reception of me 
could not have been warmer had I been his own son. 

18 



274 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Hearing the door open, he came out of his cabinet across 
the dining apartment into the reception room to welcome 
Danenhower, when, seeing me clothed in skins, and my 
face frost-scorched, he gazed for an instant in surprise, 
and then, before Danenhower could introduce us, had 
caught me closely in his arms and kissed me on both 
cheeks. He called me his brat (son), and with tears roll- 
ing from his eyes lie pressed me to his breast again and 
again. So apologies for my appearance were not neces- 
sary ; he was a soldier, and appreciated the exigencies of 
the service, and, consequently, of the occasion. He and 
Dr. Capello had been old campaigners together, and were 
still constant companions ; and the doctor, who spoke 
French fluently, now interpreted between Danenhower 
and the general. 

We ate a capital dinner of soup, fish, beef, and game, 
Yakutsk potatoes, and a variety of canned vegetables, 
all washed down with the wines of the country, vodki, 
claret, madeira, and the quass, 1 a favorite beverage with 
Dr. Capello. We finished with a bottle of champagne, 
and after several hours of conversation, my first reception 
by the governor was over ; yet before leaving he exacted 
a promise that I should dine with him daily during my 
stay in Yakutsk. 

The following day he returned my call, and for the 
balance of the week I could scarcely do aught but receive 
and return visits. Yet immediately upon my arrival I 
began to arrange for the departure of Mr. Danenhower 

1 Subjoined is a translation of the quass recipe as written out in 
French by Dr. Capello : — 

To make fifteen bottles of quass one must take twenty bottles of 
boiling water, six pounds of black rye bread, and one ounce of Eng- 
lish mint (folia menthae p. per lac), and boil for twenty-four hours. 
Then pass the contents through a sieve. The residuum must be left 
twenty-four hours longer, after one has added two spoonfuls of yeast 
and two pounds of sugar. When the forty-eight hours have elapsed, 
pour it into bottles and cork. — Ed. 



AT YAKUTSK. 275 

and all the sailors, save Bartlett and Nindemann, who 
were en route for Yakutsk, and were beyond doubt the best 
men in the party to assist me in the early spring search. 
Two months had now elapsed since I started my tele- 
gram from Belun, and still no answer. General Tscher- 
naiefT offered to advance government money for our trans- 
portation and supplies as far as Irkutsk, but would not 
hearken to my solicitations for means to renew the search 
for my missing comrades. However, as a mail was hourly 
expected, I postponed my departure for Irkutsk, whither 
I purposed going in order to put myself in wire communi- 
cation with the United States. 

January 1, 1882, I gathered a few bottles of wine, 
some vodki, white bread, cakes, and cold meat, for our 
table, and along with the men kept open house. The 
sailors had made numerous friends, who all paid New 
Year calls, and the day passed quickly and merrily. 

As soon as possible I forwarded a mail and telegram 
to the Navy Department, in which I requested orders to 
remain in Siberia with two men and continue the search 
for De Long in March. 

Meanwhile I had purchased sleds and provisions, and 
prepared everything for the comfort and safety of the 
party on their journey to Irkutsk. General Tschernaiefr* 
detailed a Cossack to take special care of Jack Cole; and 
he advanced me 6,000 roubles, 5,000 of which I trans- 
ferred to Mr. Danenhower, with written orders to proceed 
at once to Irkutsk, and thence to the Atlantic sea-board, 
communicating from time to time with the Secretary of 
the Navy and apprising him of his progress. On Jan- 
uary 6th, Bartlett, Nindemann, and the rest of my party 
arrived at Yakutsk, and on the 9th, with everything in 
readiness, Mr. Danenhower started homeward with the 
nine enlisted men. 

The governor and half the population were out on that 
blue frosty day to see the Americans set out for America ; 



276 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

and there were many exiles there of all grades, who 
hungrily eyed the travelers and envied them their jour- 
ney to the blessed land of liberty. 

Within my short life I have seen a most respectable, 
affluent, and sensitive people driven like cattle into one 
section of a great European city, and the gates then 
closed and locked upon them — all and only because of 
their religion. And so it is to-day as it was eighteen 
centuries ago — over the greater part of the so-called 
Christian world, man is abused by man for conscience 
sake; though, thanks to the aggressive leaders of mod- 
ern thought, much of this intolerance is dying out, yet 
not so rapidly in Christian Russia. And I pitied the 
poor exiles gazing wistfully on our little band of sailors, 
as though they were so many happy spirits bound for the 
mythical heaven, without the necessity of undergoing the 
imaginary horrors of death. 

When my comrades had left, with the hearty well- 
wishes of all, I began to make instant preparations for 
my second expedition to the Lena Delta, in obedience to 
the following telegraphic order from the Navy Depart- 
ment : — 

" Washington. 

" Omit no effort, spare no expense, in securing safety of men 

in second cutter. Let the sick and the frozen of those already 

rescued have every attention, and as soon as practicable have 

them transferred to a milder climate. Department will supply 

necessary funds. 

" Hunt, Secretary." 

Upon the receipt of this telegram General Tschernaieff 
said I could have anything I wanted, for I now had the 
whole Russian nation at my back ; but unfortunately this 
was a praesniJc, a holy day or holiday — in either case a 
day on which it was impossible to have any work done, 
for every store was closed, and even those farthest re- 
moved from the church refused to trade. Indeed, 



AT YAKUTSK. 277 

throughout the whole empire, everybody was engaged 
in the Christmas and New Year festivities ; and I really 
believe the governor thought I was rude or had gone 
mad, from the energetic way in which I aroused the mer- 
chants and mechanics, and importuned him to interpose 
his authority to compel the people to work and attend to 
business. For, albeit the entire town was drunk during 
the holidays, I nevertheless succeeded in gathering to- 
gether materials and supplies for six months, all bagged 
and put up in rawhide packages, ready for transportation 
by pack-horse, deer-sled, and dog-sled across the moun- 
tain range (four thousand five hundred feet above the 
sea level), and onward two thousand miles to the Arctic 
Ocean, in a section of country where I have seen the 
mercury fall in Fahrenheit's scale to seventy degrees be- 
low zero. 

The governor forwarded my plans in every particular, 
and assisted me greatly by his valuable advice. I en- 
gaged the services of three interpreters : Captain Joachim 
Gronbeck, a Swede, formerly of the Nordenskjold expe- 
dition, and commander of the steamer Lena when she 
plied on the river as a freight and passenger transport, 
who spoke Russian and English very well, and in fact, 
with the exception of a few talented exiles, was the only 
person in Yakutsk at all acquainted with our tongue ; 
Captain Constantine Bubokofx", an ex-officer of cuirassiers, 
stripped of his titles and sent to Yakutsk for cause, who 
spoke Russian, French, German, and Yakut ; and Peter 
Kolinkin, a Cossack sergeant, and the special body-ser- 
vant of General TschernaiefT, who spoke Russian and 
Yakut. Thus my company numbered six men, three 
search parties of two men each, all so well provided with 
languages that we could not help but understand and 
be understood. 

Our outfit was complete and satisfactory, including 
tobacco for the party and for presents or payment to 



278 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

some of the Yakuts on the Delta, together with a number 
of small articles suitable for trade and presents. With 
an eye to our possible failure to finish the search by early 
spring, whereby we would be compelled to stay all sum- 
mer and return in the fall, I arranged with General 
Tschernaieff for the sending of an additional six months' 
supplies to Belun. I drew money on government requi- 
sitions, and kept Bartlett and Nindemann busy all the 
days long purchasing the small articles for our use. 

The governor gave his own personal attention to the 
laying in of the bread, beef, flour, tea, and other heavy 
supplies ; while the plates and numerous copper platters, 
pans and kettles were all procured through the police 
master, whom the governor, however, watched closely. 
The Scaups furnished us with many of our provisions, 
and the dried beef and butter, composed of equal quan- 
tities of butter and suet, were to be prepared at Verke- 
ransk ; where also, to save transportation, we would ob- 
tain our bread, which was first baked in large loaves, 
then cut while soft and hot into two -inch cubes, and 
finally kiln-dried in ovens and called sucree. 

In the evenings we generally visited our friends, of 
whom there were not a few. As at Verkeransk, so here, 
and indeed everywhere in this cold, dreary climate, the 
people of all ages and classes have but one means of 
whiling away the long dark evenings — the card party, 
at which everybody smokes, drinks, or gambles ; and I 
was again stared at as a most curious person when I con- 
fessed to never playing cards. However, I partook of 
their cacuska (liquor, raw fish, caviare, pork, etc., spread 
out on side-boards), and drank sparingly of their vodki. 
Yet the people were equally astonished, knowing of the 
abundant supplies I had purchased for the expedition, to 
learn that I had not included in the list a single drop of 
alcohol. 

During my sojourn in Yakutsk, I had many pleasant 



AT YAKUTSK. 279 

insights into the social life of the Siberians, a great 
number of whom are free Russians, merchants of the 
first class, who have emigrated there for the advantage 
of trade. Others are the free children of exiles, and 
then there is quite a host of government officials, mili- 
tary, Cossack, civil, police, revenue, church, etc. On New 
Year's Eve the governor, officials, and all persons of rank 
congregated in the public assembly room to welcome the 
birth of 1882. Ladies and gentlemen mingled, drank 
and conversed together, or danced to the lively music of 
a large orchestra ; the gambling tables were set, and all 
the elite of Yakutsk had evidently turned out, and, as 
the lieutenant-governor remarked to me, on this night 
as on no other, every man had his own wife at his side, 
instead of some other man's. Let this be as it might, 
however, all seemed cheerful and happy. 

The governor was playing cards, and, as the rest of 
the party could not understand my Russian without great 
torture, I lapsed into silence, and my mind reverted to 
distant scenes of ice and snow. 

As the clock ticked out the last seconds of the old 
year, and the critical moment drew nigh, every one be- 
came silent, many standing with bottles of champagne 
in their hands, the cork strings cut, ready to fire a salute. 
Suddenly the bell began to ring, and the governor aris- 
ing announced the arrival of the JVova Goat (New Year). 
Then, amid a volley of popping corks, the life and health 
of the Czar and all good Russians were drunk ; and after 
considerable hand - shaking, congratulations, and wine, 
the party dispersed. The morrow was a notable church 
day, on which it was the duty of the governor-general, 
followed by all the populace, to first call upon the bishop. 
I was present at the ceremony. A grand procession was 
formed of the clergy in their robes, carrying crosses, 
crosiers, books, etc. Chanting, they approached and sur- 
rounded the bishop, who sat in a large arm-chair, and 



280 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

each one then advanced in order, with his hands out- 
stretched, the left resting in the right, and both palms 
turned up. The bishop graciously placed his hand in 
each extended pair, and had the back of it humbly- 
kissed by the honored recipient of his blessing. When 
the clergy had performed, the governor and all his of- 
ficial household fell into line according to rank, and did 
likewise ; after which the people followed suit, many, 
however, refraining from the kissing act. Later on in 
the day, the bishop with several of his aids visited the 
governor, armed with their crosses, crosiers, and other 
insignia of office. I was on hand by request, and con- 
versed for a few moments with the bishop. He shortly 
left, and then the household icons were blessed amid 
prayers, chants, genuflections, etc., the service winding up 
with the presentation, by the governor, of paper roubles. 

Next day the bishop returned my call at the Balogan 
Americanski, and seemed very much interested in my 
work and people. All that day I saw numberless pro- 
cessions of the clergy visiting alike the houses of rich 
and poor, who in return for the blessings their little gods 
received made liberal presents to each squad of religious 
visitors. And as this sort of thing continued from early 
morning to night, I have an idea that the purses of the 
people must have been wofully depleted. In the evening 
the streets were filled with masqueraders, in parties of 
half a dozen or so, who carried their own music, gener- 
ally a little accordeon, and called promiscuously at all 
the houses and danced without invitation. Every family 
was ready, however, to receive and refresh them with 
vodki, cognac, tea, etc., the inevitable raw salt fish, cut in 
little pieces, smoked salmon, sliced sausage, white and 
black bread, dried cakes, etc., and so as night drew on, 
not only the masqueraders, but most of the clergy, too, 
were gloriously drunk. 

There is a regular military and Cossack force stationed 



AT YAKUTSK. 281 

at Yakutsk, aggregating two thousand men. These mili- 
tary and Cossack forces are entirely distinct commands, 
and live in separate barracks, which are finely appointed ; 
and the soldiers are all as well-clad and fed as the aver- 
age denizen of Yakutsk. The city has been fortified for 
three hundred years, and some of the old Cossack towers 
are still standing. A government bank is located here, 
in which the revenues are deposited, and it does a bulky 
business, since many of the taxes are paid in fox-skins 
instead of cash. I watched the clerks counting, sealing, 
and baling up these skins like so much paper money, 
for their transportation to the East, where they are sold 
by the government's agents at Nijni-Novgorod, or some 
other fur mart, for the benefit of the Czar. This ar- 
rangement affords an opportunity for peculation on the 
part of the espravnicks of certain distant districts in 
their collection of the revenue. For the natives pay 
their head-tax in cash or fox-skins ; and as the latter 
rate was fixed many years ago when the tax was low 
and the skins had little value, now that they have so 
greatly appreciated, when the ignorant native deposits 
his fox-skins, the cunning espravnick pockets them, pays 
the low tax in cash, and through a copert accomplice dis- 
poses of the skins at a high figure. 

On January 19th, I started off Mndemann and his in- 
terpreter, Bubokoff, for Belun, with orders to hasten for- 
ward as quickly as possible, and await my arrival. I dis- 
patched him ahead in order that he might prepare the 
way for our provision train, in charge of Bartlett, accom- 
panied by the Cossack sergeant, Kolinkin. Then, as I 
have elsewhere stated, it was necessary to travel in sec- 
tions owing to the limited number of transport animals 
on the road. On the 23d Bartlett got under way ; and 
now I had only to pay the bills, sign the governor's pa- 
pers, and be off myself. But the governor insisted that 
I should wait a few days for the provision train to advance 



282 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

and the horses and deer to return. I then vowed that 
I would never again find fault with Spanish or Portuguese 
holidays ; for surely after my experience with the praes- 
nik I am satisfied that the Russians surpass every nation 
on the face of the globe in the number of their religious 
festivals, and ingenuity in devising excuses for avoiding 
work and getting drunk. 



CHAPTER XXL 
NORTH AGAIN. 

Off for Verkeransk. — A Climatic Surprise. — The Journey to Be- 
lun. — Arrangements for the Search. — A Rough Ride to Jamave- 
loch. — Futile Attempts to dispatch Fish. — A " Corner " in Fish. 
— Indignant Coperts. — The Gamblers of the Lena Delta. — Pay- 
ing off Old Scores. — Humbled Nicolai and Repentant Spiridon. 

Finally, on January 27, 1882, having signed every 
paper to the satisfaction of the governor, and joined him 
in an excellent dinner, I departed from Yakutsk for Be- 
lun, in company with Captain Gronbeck. The weather 
was exceedingly cold, but we made rapid progress, and 
overtook both Nindemann and Bartlett at Verkeransk. 
Nindemann and Bubokoff, however, were ready for a 
start, and set out again on the evening of my arrival, 
February 4th. 

Of course I met all my old friends again, and was glad 
to note their pleasure at my return. Kasharofski had 
been relieved of duty by his assistant, Epatchieff, who 
was now espravnick of the district, Kasharofski being 
ordered to the Kolyma at Nijni Kolymsk, to succeed the 
espravnick of that district, who had been recalled by Gen- 
eral Tschernaieff for rascality of some kind. Kasharof- 
ski did not consider it much of a promotion, for his new 
station was farther out on the frontier, where food was 
poor and scarce; but then the general had said he loved 
and trusted him, and consequently could send him a long 
way off, while it was necessary to keep the rogues nearer 
home. He seemed greatly disappointed that I had not 



284 IN THE LEX A DELTA. 

brought him any lemons, but they were not procurable in 
Yakutsk. 

I was forcibly impressed, on the journey, with the re- 
markable differences in temperature. To the southward 
of the mountain range absolute stillness reigned, and the 
snow-fail was constant and heavy. The trees were so 
overburdened with their white weight, softly and quietly 
heaped upon them, that many had broken down com- 
pletely and obstructed the wild roads through the forest. 
Our yamshicks were furnished with hatchets, and would 
stop to cut and drag the trees from our path. Crossing 
the mountain divide, our march was long and toilsome, 
and it was with great difficulty the deer could haul the 
empty sleighs up the steep incline. 

"When we had finally gained the top of the divide, I 
at once felt a change in the atmosphere. Whereas to the 
southward everything was as calm as the quiet of death, 
in front of us a gale was already blowing; and instead of 
trees bowed down and breaking with their burden of 
snow, to the northward of the mountain range not a 
single flake appeared on the shrubbery or woodland. We 
seemed to have passed into another climate; behind us all 
was white, before us, green ; for the wind forever swaying 
the trees kept them clear of snow; and then again, the 
snow-fall to the northward is much less than to the south- 
ward, since the clouds are mostly milked out ere they 
can cross the mountains. Arrived at Kangerack station 
we were met by a Yakut golivar (head man) with fresh 
deer, who hurried us on to Verkeransk. He had been 
dispatched to our assistance by the espravnick, whom 
General Tschernaieff had ordered to give my party the 
right of way, and also to accompany me on the search. 

To be sure I saw my exiled friends again, and used their 
bath-house. They were all in high spirits, making pem- 
mican, and preparations generally for their projected es- 
cape. I allowed Bartlett and his transport a few days' 



NORTH AGAIN. 285 

start on the road for Belun, awaiting the return of his 
first deer-teams. Just before leaving Verkeransk, Epa- 
tchieff gave an entertainment at his house, at which all 
the elite, and others as well were present, including the 
priest of the village, his wife and children, and my old 
acquaintances, Leon and Doctor Buali. There was great 
feasting, and when all was over and we were ready to set 
out, the priest prayed, chanted, and sang, and everybody 
went through certain ceremonies, after which the inde- 
fatigable priest kissed his friends good-by. Then with 
a large following we started for Belun ; but a little way 
out on the road a halt was called, and more farewells, 
hand-shakings, and brandy-drinking indulged in; until, 
finally, when the performance was becoming decidedly 
monotonous to me, we forsook our friends and shot of£ 
into the darkness. My party now consisted, besides my- 
self, of Captain Gronbeck, Epatchieff, and his Cossack ; 
and we left Verkeransk on the night of February 10th. 

The snow was very deep, the mountain roads rugged 
beyond description, and the wind fierce and howling. It 
blew as though it would never calm. Our reindeer were 
poor and weak, and our progress over the first distance 
of two hundred and twenty versts consequently slow, for 
we were obliged to stop at every povarnia to feed and 
rest the teams. The next station was two hundred and 
ninety versts distant, but we succeeded in procuring fine 
large deer, as wild as the landscape. They plunged and 
chafed and wallowed about in the deep snow. A doe 
hitched next to a buck will labor quietly along, while 
her great fat companion worries and frets himself to 
death within several hours ; and the father and son of 
a rich Yakut family at this station who have large herds 
of deer, and do all the traffic on this part of the road, told 
me that they had killed a great many of their animals in 
forwarding Nindemann and Bartlett. I never experi- 
enced such stormy weather, and owing to the heavy snow 



286 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

and high winds the mountain roads could not be kept 
broken or open. 

We overtook Bartlett about one hundred versts from 
Belun. His teams had lost their way during the night, 
and had been snowed in ; four of their deer had died in 
harness ; they, themselves, had almost perished ; and we 
came upon them in a povarnia, where they were repair- 
ing damages and resting their deer before returning for 
a portion of the transport which they had left in the 
mountains. We exchanged our vigorous deer for the 
best of their exhausted ones, and then pushed on ; leav- 
ing them to recuperate over night and follow us the next 
day. The remainder of our journey was beset with dif- 
ficulties, but we covered the hundred versts in eighteen 
hours, arriving at Belun on the evening of February 17th, 
Bartlett and Kolinkin making their appearance three 
hours after, and a part of their train a little later ; though 
half of it yet remained in the mountains. Nindemann 
killed thirteen deer on the road, Bartlett eight, and the 
rest of his transport still to be heard from ; so it was no 
wonder that the Yakut, as the espravnick told me, was 
complaining bitterly of his loss of deer, for since his 
yamshieks had done the driving, I could not be held re- 
sponsible. 

I found Nindemann and Bubokoff contented and 
drinking tea in real Russian style in our old- quarters, 
the Balogan Americanski, where they had engaged a 
native and wife, as cook and wood and water carrier. 
They had made the journey from Yakutsk in twenty-two 
days ; Bartlett in twenty-four, and myself in twenty-one. 
Bieshoff said the weather at Belun had been stormy all 
winter ; the gale, in fact, had not ceased blowing for 
twelve hours since November; and, truly, our severe 
travel to the southward was a sorry forerunner of what 
was in store for us further north. Indeed, if the weather 
continued so unpropitious, I did not see what I could do 



NORTH AGAIN. 287 

until late spring; but storm or no storm I was resolved 
to set forth as soon as I could arrange for transportation. 
Then, too, I must secure the services of Yakuts, and also 
procure a fish supply for men and dogs. 

I soon perceived how fortunate I was in having the 
espravnick with me, for the speculative coperts, we 
learned, had bought up all the fish caught on the Delta, 
holding them all undelivered at the fisheries, and their 
value had so appreciated that the fish I could have pur- 
chased, the previous fall for three copecks were now 
quoted at seven copecks. For this reason I decided to 
go across the mountains two hundred and eighty versts 
to Jamaveloch and bargain for our fish supplies ; Epa- 
tchieff promising to break all contracts between the na- 
tives and coperts, save written ones, or such as had been 
fulfilled by payment or delivery. Before leaving, how- 
ever, Epatchieff attended a public vendue of the effects 
of a Yakut who had died intestate, and selecting the 
best seventeen from a lot of deer, had them knocked 
down to me. I bought them for food on the hoof, and 
had them afterwards driven to Cass Carta, our northwest 
depot of supplies — no trivial undertaking in itself, as 
BieshofT told me that owing to the tempestuous weather 
no one had made the journey for three months. Yet I 
was eager to reach the ground as soon as possible and 
begin the search, in order that I might be able to look 
for Chipp and party during the summer. 

I contracted with a certain Ivan Patnoggin and wife 
to accompany me in the capacities of cook and scullion. 
They had a baby which they ardently desired to take 
along, but I solaced them for its temporary loss by pay- 
ing two roubles per month to its grandmother for her 
care of the little waif, and providing her with five pounds 
of butter and forty pounds of flour as its food. I agreed 
to pay Ivan and wife for their services fifteen roubles per 
month, and, beside transportation to and from Belun, 



288 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

gave them one pound of tobacco as a gratuity. Tomat 
Constantine I reengaged at a salary of twenty-five roubles 
and one pound of tobacco per month, and stipulated that 
he should have two fish a day for food. I also perfected 
arrangements for the transportation of our provisions to 
Cass Carta at the usual rate of three copecks per five 
pood per verst, storing six months' supplies at Belun until 
the next fall, should I be obliged to remain ; and likewise 
arranged that the balance of my supplies, en route from 
Verkeransk, should be delivered at Jamaveloch. 

With all these affairs satisfactorily settled, I departed 
February 22d for Jamaveloch, accompanied by Cap- 
tain Gronbeck and Epatchieff ; the party I had put in 
charge of Bartlett with orders to leave Belun on the 
27th, under the guidance of Tomat Constantine, and 
hasten without delay to Cass Carta, conducting the pro- 
vision train and seventeen head of deer. I afterwards 
learned that it would not be possible to drive the deer 
by way of Bulcour and Mat Vay, as there was no deer- 
moss in the whole of that district, and the animals would 
surely perish without it ; so I directed Bartlett to pro- 
ceed to Buruloch, and thence to Ku Mark Surt, where 
he would find dog-teams sent over by me from Jamave- 
loch. Here, too, he would part company with his deer, 
which would be driven across the mountains to the north- 
ward, while he pursued the bed of the river, via Bulcour, 
to Mat Vay, where I would have a sufficient store of fish 
awaiting him to carry the party through to Cass Carta, 
the northwest depot of supplies, from which I proposed 
to start my search parties. I also proposed to, and did, 
locate provisions at Mat Vay as our eastern depot, and, 
on my final search toward the mouth of the Jana River, 
to make Jamaveloch our base of supplies. 

We made a fairly rapid journey to Buruloch, the deer 
station, and induced the starosti to accompany us to 
Jamaveloch. I endeavored to secure the services of a 



NORTH AGAIN. 289 

native to drive our deer, when they arrived, to Cass 
Carta, and was greatly surprised to have the interpreter 
and espravnick inform me that there was but one man 
who knew the road, and he was far too old to undertake 
the journey at that season of the year. But I had learned 
to my sorrow that there were more rogues than saints 
in Siberia, and so insisted that there must certainly be 
some one else acquainted with the way. Still they as- 
sured me that he was the only man, and so upon my 
request the espravnick sent for him. He was, of course, 
compelled to come, brought from some distant quarter of 
the village, leaning on the shoulder of a young girl, and 
otherwise supported by a great staff taller than himself. 
He was blind and half-naked, only a few deer-skin tatters 
clinging to his decrepit body, which here and there was 
entirely exposed to the weather. He tottered into our 
presence saying " Drastie, drastie," and at sight of him 
I was ashamed of myself, but Epatchieff interrogated 
him. How long was it since he had driven across the 
mountains ? " About twenty years" lie said. Did he 
know of any one other than himself who could find the 
way ? He did not, except his two sons, and they were 
both dead. No one used the deer-road now ; all the trav- 
elers went the other way, with. dogs. So I left word for 
Bartlett to hire a man at Buruloch or Ku Mark Surt to 
drive his deer after him to Cass Carta ; and if he thought 
there was any likelihood of his provisions giving out on 
the journey, to kill for food what deer he could carry 
with him. Bartlett received my note, but said it was so 
badly written he could not read it. 

There being no dogs at Buruloch, we started in deer- 
teams along the river bed toward Jamaveloch, entering, 
to the eastward of Ku Mark Surt, a ravine, or the dry 
bed of a mountain stream, in which we wended our way. 
It was a hundred and thirty versts to a povarnia in the 
mountains, from which to Tamoose it was a hundred and 
19 



290 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

seventy versts more. Though I had been up at three 
o'clock, and ready to start at four in the morning, yet we 
had not succeeded in getting off until six, which, after 
all, was an early hour for this section of the country. 
The storm raged in a terrible manner, and the yamshicks 
had no desire to venture forth and cope with it. We 
would find no fresh deer on the road ; and, should we be 
storm-bound, not only should we suffer greatly ourselves 
for want of food, but I should also be delayed in forward- 
ing relief to Bartlett, who, under his orders, would move 
promptly. After crossing the mountains, we had before 
us a tundra passage of one hundred and thirty versts ; 
and, upon second thought, the natives decided to abandon 
their intention of visiting the povamia, and lay instead a 
course across the tundra that night. Darkness came on 
with a furious tempest of snow, and, according to cus- 
tom, the yamshicks lost their way. We slept on the sleds, 
while the deer, made fast, rested and browsed, and the 
yamshicks, doubled up in their reindeer-coats, sat down 
with their backs to the wind, and let it blow. 

We were lost, but not so badly but that we could find 
our way again at daylight. This we did, and traversing 
the tundra reached by night-fall the shore of the Bay of 
Bukoff ; but the natives did not dare to cross the bay, 
and so we skirted around it ; and finally, at ten o'clock, 
after many turnings and abortive movements, during 
which the wild gale dashed clouds of snow in our faces 
and half-buried the teams, we arrived, nigh frozen to 
death, at a hut in Tamoose ; having traveled that day 
one hundred and ninety versts, and gone without food or 
water since our three o'clock breakfast the morning be- 
fore at Buruloch. And there was some satisfaction in 
having kept these people active whether they wanted to 
move or not, and in seeing them eat scraps of raw frozen 
beef or deer meat from the provision sacks stored in our 
sleds. 



NORTH AGAIN. 291 

At Tamoose I met again oar exile friends, and found 
that the Russian and Yakut coperts are as well acquainted 
with the philosophy of " corners " in fish as our Chicago 
merchants are with " corners " in grain ; for Kusma told 
me that they had bought up all the fish in Tamoose. I 
also received the more agreeable intelligence that I could 
go to Oceansk from this point by journeying directly 
across the bay and forward for three hundred and fifty 
versts. We passed the night at Tamoose, and early the 
next morning set out for Jamaveloeh. Immediately upon 
my arrival there, I arranged with the natives to send two 
dog-teams to Ku Mark Surt for the transportation of 
Bartlett and party to Cass Carta. These I loaded with 
one hundred and fifty fish, the natives carrying an extra 
supply for themselves and dogs ; and sent orders to Bart- 
lett directing him to hold the natives and teams until 
they hud advanced him as far as Cass Carta. I also in- 
structed him in my note that at Mat Vay he would find 
a depot of fish ; for as soon as I had started off four teams 
to Ku Mark Surt, I collected four more and dispatched 
them to Mat Vay, with instructions not to fail in getting 
through, but to make a depot of fish at that point, and 
then hurry on to Ku Mark Surt and assist in the trans- 
portation of Bartlett's party. There was a brief lull in 
the storm, and during its continuance I succeeded in 
starting the natives, who were very loath to go. They 
delayed a long while in tomfoolery before their icons, 
and in kissing their friends, so that they had barely set 
forth when the wind arose again, and I felt sorry to see 
them depart. Still this was our contract, and Bartlett 
would depend on me for a fish supply if he should be 
unable to take his deer with him, which was doubtful 
indeed. 

But the natives had scarcely started when they came 
back and declared that the wind was too strong, and in 
very truth it was impossible to face it. They all corrobo- 



292 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

rated the story of Bieshoff and the people at Belun, that 
no team had ventured to cross the mountains for three 
months ; but they promised to begin their journey again 
as soon as the weather would permit. 

I paid for the fish at the usual rates, or at a slight pre- 
mium, and Epatchieff seized all that the natives had for 
sale or had bargained to sell to the speculative coperts, 
whose ring was thus broken, and who were consequently 
very savage. They threatened the natives with condign 
punishment, vowing that they would never thenceforth 
sell them any salt, tea, or tobacco, and advised them 
spitefully to procure these luxuries from the Americans 
— " they were so much better." Luckily I had an abun- 
dance of tea, tobacco, and other articles, with which I 
could pay the natives in lieu of cash ; and as I only added 
the first price and the cost of transportation together, they 
received almost double the traders' allowance from me in 
payment for their fish. And yet they were not benefited, 
for I soon became aware of the presence at Jamaveloch of 
an organized band of thieves, who gambled night and day 
with the natives for their articles in trade, and, in fact, 
conducted their business as systematically as any gam- 
bling-house in the world. 

Noticing a number of these well-dressed, sharp-looking 
knaves in the village, I at first inquired of Epatchieff 
who they were. He laughed, and answered, " Coperts ; " 
and then dealing an imaginary pack of cards around a 
table, he made a sweep with his hands, as though gather- 
ing in a heap of money, which, in fancy, he forthwith 
stuffed in his pockets. These thieves, bringing a quan- 
tity of tea, tobacco, and small money, come down to the 
Delta and live among the natives, from whom they pur- 
chase anything they can, paying cash, which they imme- 
diately win back again ; so that, at the end of the winter 
season, when the coperts are ready to decamp, they take 
away with them everything that the natives possessed 



NORTH AGAIN. 293 

the fall before, leaving their victims ragged and starving, 
but, strange to say, more anxious than ever to be fleeced. 
I have seen them sell their deer-skins, clothing, copper 
kettles — their little all — to the gamblers, who would 
pay over the money, sit presently down, and in less than 
half an hour win it back again. The kettles and other 
heavy articles which they could not conveniently carry, 
they would sell back to the natives at a high rate, or take 
a lien on their next summer's hunt or catch of fish. 

And yet the Yakuts seemed to like it. They gambled 
away their fish before my eyes ; and then, ranging their 
wives and children in a row, would show me their empty 
kettles, and push their stomachs in to indicate that they 
were empty, too ; and this while the gambler sat placidly 
beside his spoils in the same apartment. On one such 
occasion I asked the native, who had just lost one hun- 
dred fish, how many he wanted for supper, and, upon his 
answering " Ten," I took that number from the ill-gotten 
stack in front of the gambler, and gave them to him. 
" All right," said the copert, u but you must pay me sev- 
enty copecks for the fish " — that is, one hundred and 
thirty-three and a third per cent, more than their market 
value. The native stood anxiously by to see if I would 
be dunce enough to buy back for himself and family a 
supper which he had recklessly squandered away ; but I 
coolly drew forth from our hamper enough fish for my 
party and cooked them at his fire, thinking it might 
prove of value to him to be sent supperless to bed. But 
I doubt if it did, since the gambler gave him five fish on 
the promise of ten from the next catch ; and so it contin- 
ues ; the old and young of both sexes gamble whenever 
an opportunity presents itself, and I believe this to be 
the direct cause of most of the misery and starvation 
which haunts the Delta. 

When I landed the previous fall at Jamaveloch, the 
balogans stood about eight or ten feet above the ground ; 



294 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

now they were but slight undulations on the surface of 
the snow, and a column of smoke by day and a fountain 
of sparks by night alone indicated the exact location of 
each hut. The sleds ran evenly over the roofs, and the 
dogs halted at the chimneys to sniff the good things cook- 
ing below in the dinner-pots, so completely was the vil- 
lage snowed under. While awaiting a lull in the storm, 
I assembled all the Bukoff folks and paid off my old 
scores for fish and geese. To Kusma I also gave the 
reward I had promised him for carrying my message to 
Belun ; but as he had not been able to supply the deer- 
teams and clothing for the transportation of my party, 
I only paid him three hundred of the five hundred rou- 
bles I had agreed to give him, and handed the balance to 
Bieshoff to cover his expenses in the performance of that 
service. Kusma, in addition, received a paper prepared 
by the espravnick, which gave him a proper title to the 
whale-boat, with the reserved privilege, however, to my- 
self or any American party to make free use of it in 
searching along the coast during the summer for the peo- 
ple of the second cutter. 

Epatchieff had notified all the natives to present their 
claims, and some of them tried to double the amount of 
provisions they had furnished us ; but I had a tally-sheet 
which Danenhower had kept, and upon my leaving Jam- 
aveloch I had enjoined upon him the necessity of preserv- 
ing a correct record of all the stores we received. This 
he did, and handed me the list at Yakutsk. 

It will be remembered that Nicolai Chagra, the sta- 
rosti, had acted meanly in foisting upon us the smallest 
fish he had, whereas the other natives, notably one An- 
drouski, had always been liberal in their allowances. 
And I had determined to be revenged on Nicolai if the 
chance offered ; and it did. The payments were made 
in his hut, where we were quartered, and the starosti 
produced his tallies, which agreed with my memoranda ; 



NORTH AGAIN, 295 

but when I asked him if his fish had been large or small, 
he winced a little and said u Medium." I then told him 
to procure a sample for the espravnick to see and judge, 
and he brought in a medium-sized mucksoon, which was 
far too bulky a representative of the kind he had given 
us ; and I finally selected one myself which I believed to 
be a fair sample. He looked very much confused and 
discomfited, and while his neighbors gathered around, 
Epatchieff rebuked him, saying he deserved no pay, and, 
if I chose, he should not receive any. He was promised 
fine, imprisonment, the knout, and kindred attentions 
should he treat strangers as badly again, and if I would 
simply say the word he should be punished then. Nicolai 
had no defense to make, other than that fish was scarce, 
we were a large party, etc. ; but I counted his score and 
paid over the exact amount due him, whereupon he re- 
tired amid the jeers and laughter of his neighbors. 

Mrs. Nicolai was then led to the front, and presented 
with needles and thread, and enough calico for a new 
gown. She was also assured that she was a good woman, 
and had done well by the strangers. Androuski came 
forward with his bill, which tallied exactly with my ac- 
count, and as he had regularly supplied us with large 
fish, and usually thrown in several extra ones, all the na- 
tives were agog to see what would come to Androuski. 
I doubled his score and paid him off, while the rest 
shouted their approval. And so I settled with all ; wher- 
ever I found an inclination to cheat, I told the culprit of 
it, and in one glaring instance, where a man put in a 
claim for more fish than he had supplied, I deducted the 
overcharge from the correct amount, and paid him the 
balance. Old Spiridon, the pirate of the Delta, Mr. 
Danenhower's much-trusted pilot, fared very badly. His 
claim was entirely rejected by Epatchieff, who likewise 
threatened him with a variety of penalties for his ill- 
treatment of us. He was very penitent, yet, I could see, 



296 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

a rascal at heart, and when some of the natives taunted 
him his looks plainly showed that he would never forget 
or forgive them. To complete his humiliation, Epa- 
tchieff deposed him from office, and elevated Vasilli Kool 
Gar to the high station of starosti in his village. 

Several of the Jamaveloch ladies who had fixed our 
fire-place, plastered our chimney, and had done a num- 
ber of kind services for us, 'such as repairing our boots, 
mittens, clothing, etc., received each a present. To Mrs. 
Androuski I gave calico for a gown, with thimble, needles, 
and thread to make it up ; nor did I forget Iniguin's 
sweetheart, the one whom he had called his " good little 
old woman," but gave her some small articles, saying 
through Epatchieff that the American Tunguse had sent 
them to her — an unexpected remembrance which filled 
her with delight. And thus did we mete out punishment 
and reward among the villagers. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
STORM-BOUND. 

Arctic Weather. — Pedestrian Difficulties. — Lost in the Village. — 
Outstripping the Typhoon. — Continuance of the Same Old Gale. 
— A Yakut Solution of a Financial Problem. — Off for Arii. — 
Chul-Boy-Hoy. — Golivar Compass. — Turkanach. — An Afflicted 
Family. — Ordono. — Qu Vina. — At Cass Carta. — Our Pala- 
tial Quarters. — In Distress. — Timely Relief. — Together at 
Last. — The Art of Broiling Steaks. — A Reminiscence. — A 
Twenty-Pound Drink. — Yakut and Tchuchee Filthiness. 

To economize space I will now transcribe from my 
journal. 

February 26th. — Blowing harder than ever, and I do 
not see how I can manage to get away in such weather. 
The natives cannot endure it, and, indeed, refuse to try ; 
so it would be folly for me to venture forth, for the pres- 
ent, at least. 

Vasilli Kool Gar and Nicolai Chagra returned to-day 
baffled in an attempt to reach Ku Mark Surt. They are 
terribly frozen in face, hands, and feet. A young Yakut 
also arrived from Arii, more dead than alive, having 
been lost in the storm for two days. He seems dazed, 
and sits crying and swaying to and fro in a corner of the 
hut, without strength or wit to tell his story. A yam- 
shick has come into the village seeking relief for a young 
Russian copert who lost his way on Borkhia Bay to the 
east of Jamaveloch, and is now in a povarnia to the 
southeast of us. He and his yamshick ate all their pro- 
visions and afterwards their dogs. Then he cached his 



298 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

stores in the ice and snow of the bay, and reaching a hut, 
dispatched his yamshick on foot to the village for succor. 
The latter is unable to stir about, but knows the name 
of the hut (Ka-ra-oo-aloch) where his master is ; and a 
huge, tall, wild-looking Tunguse, whom I have engaged 
as dog-driver on my eastern search across the Bay of 
Borkhia and on the mouth of the Jana River, has gone 
to his rescue, no one else caring to go. The coper ts in 
this region carry very little food, in order that they may 
transport the more goods for traffic, and many of them 
are consequently weather-bound and lost. I bought one 
thousand fish from Kusma, and about nine o'clock in the 
evening it so cleared that in less than an hour I man- 
aged to start the dog-teams toward Ku Mark Surt, with 
one hundred and fifty fish for Bartlett. 

February 27th. — The storm rages more furiously, if 
possible, than yesterday. I hope the teams which set 
out last night succeeded in crossing the mountain range ; 
but from present appearances it is doubtful to me if I 
shall be able to begin operations for a month to come. 

I have contracted for the hire of three teams of fifteen 
dogs each from Bukoff, harness and sleds included, for 
which I pay fifteen roubles per month and feed the dogs. 
Each yamshick receives twenty roubles per month and 
feed, which comprises fish, tea, and tobacco. Teams 
and drivers are to go wherever I direct them, and to 
haul our provisions when not otherwise engaged ; but 
many of the fish I shall have to transport at road rates — 
of one hundred to a load, and three copecks per verst. I 
completed my fish purchases to-day, having bargained 
and paid, as is the custom here, for 5,150 for our central 
station at Mat Vay. I will haul away the fish as I need 
them ; leaving 3,000, however, at Jamaveloch, for use at 
this end of the line. 

I find that a number of the natives abandon Bukoff on 
account of the floods, though many of them live here 



STORM-BOUND. 299 

throughout the year. Still it blows a living gale. No 
one willingly forsakes the shelter of his hut, and those 
unfortunates who are forced to expose themselves to the 
pitiless weather must either cling to some support or sit 
down. There is no compromise. An old native started 
from our hut to reach another not more than one hun- 
dred yards distant. So blinding was the snow, and so 
fierce the wind, which lifted and whirled him around, 
that he lost his head, and consequently his way. I do 
not know how the alarm was given ; but in a few seconds 
all the men were getting into their boots and furs, the 
women assisting and urging them to make haste. With 
old Nicolai at their head they set forth on the search, 
and I followed to watch their actions. Noting the direc- 
tion of the wind and their present location, they all sat 
squarely down on the snow, and then crawled away be- 
fore the wind, shouting vigorously for the lost one ; and 
they found him but a little distance off under the lee of 
a store-house, crying aloud for help. 

I have never seen such tempestuous weather as this, 
either in the Arctic or elsewhere. I am anxious to see 
it blow itself out, and give me a chance to get under 
way. The winds are, and have been all winter, mostly 
from south by west to south southwest, and at times from 
south to southwest, all the heavy gales proceeding from 
that quarter, — while occasionally the wind is variable, 
and blows from all points of the compass. And yet how 
still it was to the southward of the mountain divide ! 

When our sleds struck the trunk of a tree we were 
buried beneath an avalanche of snow. Here the tundra 
and high table-lands are swept clean by the gales, and 
the valleys and gulches are gorged with snow. This 
delay is intolerable ; for I am eager and impatient to 
survey the territory where my comrades are. 

February 28th. — An exile ventured forth last even- 
ing to pay a visit, and lost his way. He managed to 



300 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

wander to the windward of the village and of Nicolai's 
hut. Some of the people heard his cries, and after a 
half hour's hunt found him, where he had dug and 
crawled into a hole in the snow, which banked up at his 
back and kept him warm. Besides, he had on his long 
deer-skin cooly-tang or parky, and would doubtless have 
survived the night and been rescued. This was old Sim- 
eon Alexoff, a Russian exile, and his adventure fright- 
ened him badly. 

Towards morning the gale calmed, and the natives 
busied themselves in cleaning up their outside surround- 
ings and hauling wood and ice for another siege of 
weather. I took advantage of the lull to dispatch two 
dog-teams with two hundred fish to Mat Vay or Cass 
Carta, as opportunity offered, and thence to Bartlett's 
assistance at Ku Mark Suit. An exile arrived here to- 
day from Upper Belun. He has been five days on the 
road, and had the wind behind him all the way. He 
says that La Kentie Shamoola has gone to Ku Mark Surt, 
and may carry Bartlett through, or come over to Bukoff 
for orders from Epatchieff. 

The weather to-day and this evening is the best we 
have had for weeks. The natives have lost nearly a 
month's fishing, and are hard pressed for wood and 
water, as they have an antipathy against using snow; 
and although they have plenty of fish for the present, yet 
a large part of their catch must be sold for cash to pro- 
cure tea, salt, and tobacco, and to pay their taxes. I find 
that the cost of transporting fish is greater here than 
their price. I tried in vain to buy them delivered at 
Mat Vay, but it was too abstruse a calculation for the 
Yakut brain ; they have always sold their fish at Bukoff, 
and separately engaged to haul them at three copecks 
per verst ; that is ail they know about it, and all they 
will do about it. I heard to-day that there is a famine 
at Oceansk and the Omalai, and a great scarcity of food 



STORM-BOUND. 301 

at Upper or North Belun. Epatchieff advises me to buy 
up all the fish I may need, as he thinks after April 1st I 
shall not be able to buy any at all. Were I sure of the 
salt and dried beef from Verkeransk, I could do with less 
fish, but I am not, and cannot rely upon an uncertainty 
like this, when I shall have twelve or more persons to 
feed, beside three dog-teams for the search, and probably 
five other teams for hauling fish, and various purposes ; 
and the transportation of food by these Yakuts is such 
a slow process that I may have to attend to it myself. 
The native cannot induce himself to go in a hurry and 
keep going — they all "go as they please," halting at 
huts, povarnias, and villages, as the spirit moves them. 
Yet if I can succeed in separating them from their huts 
and women, I will drive them and their dogs too. 

During the month of May it will be perilous to work 
on any part of the Delta. The inhabitants here say 
that at times when an ice-dam breaks a vertical wall and 
flood of water will rush down the river for miles at the 
speed of a race-horse, carrying everything before it, until 
it vanishes in the many outlets and seeks the sea. This 
is repeated again and again, until the southern flood- 
waters have swept away the northern ice-gorges, and the 
river is free to flow. 

The weather changed once more. It was snowing si- 
lently and slowly, but by eight o'clock in the evening 
the wind blew mightily as ever. 

March 1st, 1882. — At early daylight there came an- 
other calm ; but it was very evanescent, and by eleven 
A. M. the storm had resumed its sway. The wind seizes 
sleds or any other exposed object and hurls them across 
the bay ; so I do not wonder, as I used to, why the na- 
tives stake fast their empty sleds to the ground. 

This morning, while the weather was still fine, two na- 
tives, who have come here from Belun to fish, went out 
to haul their nets. Shortly after their departure the 



302 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

wind arose, and at three P. M., when they had failed to 
put in an appearance, the villagers set forth to look them 
up. These poor devils have a hard time of it ; starvation 
on the one hand, and danger of death from cold or ex- 
posure on the other. I have now been here four days, 
and during that time four men have been rescued in this 
village alone. Another Russian copert, Sennikoff, was 
" jacksoned" by the storm for thirty-five days at Turka- 
nacli. He and his two drivers had food enough to see 
them through, but the dogs had nothing ; so they killed a 
dog a day for the other animals to eat, and finally started 
a driver with a team of six dogs to Bukoff Moose, seventy 
versts distant, where relief was procured. 

The wind still blows at such a rate that neither man 
nor dog can face it, but must needs crawl into any avail- 
able hole for shelter. I stepped outside to-day simply 
to experiment, and see if it were possible to stand up or 
hold to the hut. I could actually discern nothing for the 
blinding fury of the storm, for the wild rushing air was 
opaque with snow and fine particles of ice. I lost my 
grip on the door-jamb, and with difficulty crawled back on 
my hands and knees to the top of the snow-steps, down 
which I took a header and rolled into the hut. The na- 
tives will not allow any of us to go out alone, but insist 
upon sending one of their number to keep us company. 
I have seen a typhoon blowing in Japan, when the ane- 
mometers on three ships registered ninety-nine, one hun- 
dred and one, and one hundred and three miles per hour 
respectively ; when weak buildings were demolished, ves- 
sels at anchor dragged along, and jin-rick-shas turned 
over like willow baskets, — yet I was not carried off my 
feet, nor was the typhoon in its most furious mood a cir- 
cumstance to this irresistible boreal blast. Thunder and 
lightning are entirely unknown in the Arctic Ocean. 
Towards the pole the aurora is the only form in which 
the presence of electricity in the atmosphere is displayed ; 



STORM-BOUND. 303 

and the question arises, Why the aurora, instead of the 
discharges of light, attended by thunder-claps, seen at 
the equator ? 

To bring about the usual atmospheric phenomena heat 
must be applied or extracted. Perhaps, then, the want 
of heat in the polar regions may account for the absence 
of thunder and lightning, — or can it be that the im- 
mense blanket or non-conductor of ice and snow prevents 
the discharge of the electric current ? So that, if a cer- 
tain degree of heat were introduced, the aurora would 
burst forth into vivid flashes ? 

March 2d. — An aggravated continuance of the same 
old gale. The snow has closed up the weather-door of 
our hut for twenty-four hours, and no one has had the 
temerity to expose his head to the outer air. I now de- 
spair of doing aught but abiding a change of weather. 
One blessing has been vouchsafed to us — there are no 
children in the hut ; though Madam Nicolai persists in 
lavishing her motherly affection upon her son Abonasshi, 
a full-grown young man, borne by her to her first husband. 
She takes him on her lap, and hugs and loves him, and 
wipes his nose, and cares for him as though he were four 
years old. Abonasshi is a good boy, and assists his 
mother in carrying wood, ice, etc. Upon madam de- 
volves the duty of training the young dogs, and during 
four or five hours of each day she has half a dozen of 
puppies marshaled in front of her, each one with a 
thong around his neck attached to a stick from twelve 
to sixteen inches long, which, in turn, is lashed to the 
edge of the low-down berth or bench. The effect of this 
arrangement is that the dog is kept constantly pushing 
forward; for if he attempts backsliding, the stick is 
thrust into his neck and reminds him of the folly of such 
a course. The house-dog is usually employed in cleans- 
ing the children ; and I had rather sleep in a snow-bank 
than in a hut full of small progeny. 



304 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

La Kentie Shamoola should have been here days ago 
to carry us up to Cass Carta, but he is doubtless storm- 
bound at Ku Mark Surt, or a povarnia, en route. I have 
dogs enough for our transportation to Cass Carta or Mat 
Vay, but there is no man in the village acquainted with 
the road ; and then, too, it may be necessary for us to 
carry a large supply of fish for a long siege of bad weather, 
and I must wait here for more dog-teams and guides. 
Our venison and bread have given out, but with plenty 
of fish and salt we are much better off than when here 
five months ago. The natives, who live for months with- 
out a taste of bread, begged hard for some, and I was a 
little lavish with it, considerably more so than I would 
have been had I known the length of our detention here. 
Kusma besought me for just a little for his supper, and I 
gave him enough for a dozen suppers. 

Yapheme Copaloff, the " Red Fiend," is quartered at 
Nicolai's hut, living in a corner and sleeping on the floor. 
Upon our arrival he immediately installed himself as 
major-domo for Epatchieff, Captain Gronbeck, and my- 
self. He implored me to take him into my service as a 
general hand, which I at length consented to do at a 
salary of fifteen roubles per month. He attends to all 
our wants, cooking our fish and tea, and making himself 
very useful indeed. [So I took him with me to the 
northwest, then back again to Bukoff Moose, and finally, 
with General TschernaiefTs permission, to Yakutsk, where 
he ran headlong into trouble, and consequently into the 
calaboose.] I am worried most about Bartlett and com- 
pany, for they are on the border of a perfectly barren 
region ; albeit there is a good-sized village about seventy 
versts to the west of them, where Tomat Constantine 
may procure provisions. 

March 3<#. — The dog-teams, which I started towards 
Ku Mark Surt, returned to-day, having failed in their at- 
tempt to reach that point. They succeeded in arriving 



STORM-BOUND. 305 

at the first povarnia, forty versts distant from Jamave- 
loch, but on the road to Tas Arii they became lost, and 
had a terrible experience. Four of their dogs died, some 
were cut adrift, and others were brought back in a help- 
less condition on the sleds. Spiridon's leader, a young 
and well-broken dog, valued at seventy-five roubles, is 
among the lost, and the old fellow is inconsolable. The 
natives are in a pitiable plight, frozen terribly in face, 
hands, and feet. They lost their way both going and 
coming, and I shall scarcely be able to persuade them to 
dare the weather again until it has fairly settled. Two 
of the teams have not yet returned, but those that have 
report them as safely progressing. By this miscarriage, 
Bartlett and company are detained at Ku Mart Surt, and 
we are involved in more expense and delay. 

I now fear that the teams I sent to Mat Yay will also 
return defeated. It is the devil's own job to secure 
transportation here, — the much-vaunted dog and deer- 
teams being very insufficient ; yet I cannot expect better 
means of conveyance in such a wild country. The deer- 
teams which brought us to Jamaveloch left to-day for 
Ku Mark Surt. They could not carry any fish for me, 
but promised to give Bartlett sixty of their own, which 
will be returned to them from the one hundred and fifty 
which I am and have been trying to get through to him. 
I dare say that some of the cabinet Arctic travelers and 
critics who have been within three thousand miles of this 
place will wonder why the blank fool didn't do some- 
thing — if only they had been there — Ah ! — Yes, I war- 
rant if they were the nucleus of their trousers would be 
nigh touching the ground ! One hundred fish, it will be 
remembered, constitutes a load, as fish for the dogs and 
drivers going and coming must also be carried ; though 
this burden is partially relieved by deposits made in the 
snow along the road. 

The day was comparatively fine, but the wind cut like 
a knife. 



306 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

March \th. — Our few hours of good weather came 
and went like a flash of the sun from behind a cloud. It 
is blowing again with, if anything, augmented velocity. 
I have walked three hundred yards to windward, while 
with the Jeannette, to read the instruments, and without 
experiencing any serious inconvenience ; but I cannot 
even stand up against this ferocious tornado, which sur- 
passes anything in the way of weather I have ever seen. 
One of the returned natives called upon me to-day, and 
told a pitiful story of his wanderings and sufferings. The 
poor fellow's face and hands evidence how cruelly Jack 
Frost can bite. His cheek-bones are two raw spots as large 
as silver dollars, and his nose resembles a pickled beet. 
He does not wish to carry more fish until spring time, 
and I don't blame him. One of the dogs turned loose 
found his way back to the village last night, and died. 
This swells the loss of the natives considerably, for be- 
sides the pain and misery they underwent, it was all for 
nothing, since they must deliver the fish according to con- 
tract or receive no pay. We are now down to our last 
loaves, and boiled fish is our daily fare — very excellent 
when one can get no other. 

I witnessed to-day a division of the profits of a team 
of eleven dogs among three natives, who owned respect- 
ively three, five, and six of the dogs. But the one with 
the smallest number of animals in the team had contrib- 
uted his services as driver, while the owner of five had 
supplied the dog-feed. Here, then, was a financial prob- 
lem of no little intricacy to the natives, and this is how 
they solved it. First, by placing as many small sticks in 
the centre of the table as there were dogs (eleven), to 
which the driver added three more for himself. They 
then drew from the money-pot copecks as per sticks, and 
when all the earnings were exhausted each settled with 
the man who had furnished the dog-feed for his quota, 
according to the composition of the team, throe, five, 
and six. 



STORM-BOUND. 307 

March 5th. — The wind has veered around to the east- 
ward, doubtless a change for the better. Vasilli Kool 
Gar came over from Arii, bringing with him three men 
from Long Island, near the Alanek, and a guide for the 
Omalai. The former will act as drivers and guides to 
the Alanek should I require their services, and the latter, 
a Tunguse, I can find here whenever I want him. 

The two teams I started off with fish for Mat Vay have 
evidently pushed through, since they have not 'returned 
to Arii; and so I can hope that they are now on the 
road to Ku Mark Suit. The other teams are still here, 
but if the wind holds from the east and on their backs, 
they will make a second attempt. We are miserably 
located here — the Yakuts and my party of three quar- 
tered in a hut twenty feet square. The sights ! and the 
odors ! ! . . . Still we are sheltered, which is a blessed 
comfort just now; and have tea and boiled fish every 
day, which altogether is quite enough. 

If the weather continues as it is, we must face the 
music ourselves. I have five dog-teams ready for our 
transportation to Cass Carta, but besides the fish for the 
dogs I can only carry fifty for the use of my party. The 
wind is slowly calming down, and the natives are about 
to feed their dogs, with the intention of starting for Ku 
Mark Surt in the morning. This is the chief cause of 
delays ; the natives refrain from feeding their dogs until 
the weather clears, and then twelve hours afterward they 
set forth, providing the weather has not changed. But 
in the mean time they have lost twelve good hours, while 
the dogs are digesting their food, and if the storm comes 
on again there is a depletion of the Yakut fish pile, a 
repletion of the dogs, and a senseless delay. 

March 6th. — Light easterly breeze this morning, with 
snow. The drivers proposed to go as far as the balogan 
of Spiridon at Arii, ten versts to the northward; and 
finally getting under way by 11.20 A. M., we made the 
journey, the day growing brighter but colder. 



308 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

The yamshicks insist upon tarrying here over night to 
feed the dogs, and then make an early start to-morrow 
for Chul-Boy-Hoy, seventy versts distant, which they 
hope to reach by daylight. There are a number of 
natives at Arii, from North Belun, who have come, in 
answer to a summons from the espravnick, to assist me 
in hauling the fish, etc. They report a famine at North 
Belun ; and their frost-bitten bodies testify to the terrible 
suffering they underwent on their journey; all having 
been caught by the storm away from povarnias. 

We are stopping at the hut of old Spiridon ; and stroll- 
ing about the village I saw the wife and grandchildren 
of Vasilli Kool Gar, to whom I gave some tea. There 
were large quantities of fish stored here, but all have 
been sold to the coperts. I suffered severely in my feet 
to-day, during our short run of x an hour, owing to my 
damp socks; for I had worn my deer-skin stockings in 
the house several hours before starting, and as a con- 
sequence they so froze on the journey that when we 
arrived here my feet were blistered. 

March 1th. — My party, which consists of Epatchieff, 
Captain Gr on beck, Yapheme, myself, and five dog-drivers, 
set out this morning about seven o'clock from Arii. The 
drivers said it was seventy versts to Chul-Boy-Hoy, and 
laying a northwest course we reached that place, a collec- 
tion of three tumble-down huts, about two o'clock in the 
afternoon. 

When we had been four or five hours on the road I 
asked Vasilli, in order to impress the course on my mind 
and afterwards mark it on the chart, how far and in 
what direction was Barkin. The distance, he said, was 
forty versts ; and, to indicate the direction, he laid his 
dog-stake upon the snow for me to set and read the com- 
pass. The natives have a wonderful sense of locality, 
and in sunlight, moonlight, or the darkest night, seem 
able to exercise it equally well. They only lose their 



• STORM-BOUND. 309 

way when the snow is swirling in clouds or columns. I 
have many times, simply to test their ability, asked them 
to show me the sever zaputh (northwest), or some other 
point of the compass, and they would as often indicate 
the required direction with their staves, which, first 
balancing until the iron point was fixed to their satisfac- 
tion, they would finally place on the snow, and my com- 
pass invariably proved their calculations to be correct. 

Old Vasilli delights in using this faculty of his. He 
has learned the word compass, and tapping his head he 
laughingly told me — • " Grolivar compass " (head compass). 
And when I inquired of him the direction of Barkin, he 
pointed his stake east by north and said, byral (sea). 
So I now have the prominent points on the Delta located 
as definitely as possible on my chart, and can approxi- 
mately designate the situation of all the villages and 
huts, and the course of my journey. To be sure there 
are some inaccuracies ; for upon asking different yam- 
shicks how far it was to certain places, they have an- 
swered, if our dogs were good, " Fifty versts ; " if bad, 
" Seventy," or even " Ninety versts." Yet I have learned 
to measure distances by time and conditions and marked 
them accordingly. 

March 8th. — Clear and cold, when we renewed our 
journey at nine A. M. 

To the southward of Chul-Boy-Hoy runs a small range 
of detached hills, not unlike the foot-hills of the south- 
ern mountain range. They are from five to ten miles 
back of the great bay, or gooba, and though the weather 
was clear, yet a dense haze, which the Siberians call "the 
frozen air," enveloped and obscured them. 

We passed a cold, smoky, and miserable night in the 
povarnia. It is vastly more disagreeable to sleep in a 
hut full of holes than in a snow-bank or on a sled ; for 
the cold winds are forced through the chinks like blasts 
from the muzzle of a bellows. We traveled all day due 



310 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

west, and towards two P. M. approached Turkanach, 
where we expected to spend the night. As we drew near, 
I was surprised to see smoke curling up from one of the 
three huts forming the village. Our dogs as usual dashed 
forward in a perfect pandemonium of yells, but no one 
came out from the hut to greet us. Then Capiocan, one 
of our yamshicks, crawled inside on his hands and knees, 
but reappeared in an instant, looking wofully frightened, 
and muttering something about " pomree " and " pro- 
paldi," from which I inferred that there were dead or 
dying people within. While he was explaining matters 
to Epatchieff, I observed issuing from the hole in the 
hut a miserable object half clad in an old deer-skin blouse. 
It was wailing and groaning dismally, and for a minute 
I could not determine whether it was a man or a woman. 
Face and hands were swollen and covered with frost- 
sores, and the stooped and limping figure, leaning on a 
long staff, bowing, crossing, and beating its breast, at 
length cried out between its sobs and moans, " Drastie, 
drastie, drastie ! " 

It was a man, we found, and the espravnick, quieting 
him down, inquired into the cause of his lamentations. 
Thereupon he invited us into the hut, with the assur- 
ance that there was no corpse within, for among the 
natives no person is permitted to enter the huts of the 
dead save the kin of the deceased, and even they are 
quarantined thereafter for thirty days from the rest of 
the community. Crawling into the hut, we found it oc- 
cupied by six natives, — a grandfather and grandmother, 
their married son and his wife, and two children ; a 
young girl of fourteen or fifteen, and a baby several years 
old. Their cries were heart-rending, for they were all 
crippled from frost-bite. The grandfather, who was 
partly blind, sat in a corner swaying back and forth ; 
while his aged spouse, barely able to lift her head, held 
the baby near the fire, and chafed its almost lifeless 



STORM-BOUND. 31.1 

body. The mother, her head covered with a deer-skin 
coat, sat on one of the bed-places and shrieked out her 
agony ; and the young girl, with her arms around the 
neck of her mother, wept convulsively. 

Presently we listened to the sad story of the afflicted 
father, who told us that a famine was raging in the west- 
ern section of the Delta, that he had heard there was 
plenty of fish at Bukoff Moose, and that, acting upon 
this rumor, his father and mother, his wife, himself, and 
their five children, had attempted to walk from Long 
Island, at the western discharge cf the Lena, to Bukoff, — 
a weak team of five dogs carrying their household goods. 
They had marched through the furious storm for eight 
days and nights, repeatedly losing their way ; three of 
their children had died of cold and hunger, and were 
buried close by in a snow-bank ; after which they had 
managed at length to crawl into this hut, where they had 
been for several days absolutely without any food, hav- 
ing lived for more than a week previous on the rawhide 
and untanned portions of their clothing and outfit. They 
were far too enfeebled to hunt or gather wood, so they 
had torn down and burned the inside of the hut. And 
here Capiocan was off like a flash, dumping our freight 
from his sled, and shortly reappearing with a load of 
drift-wood. Meanwhile our tea-kettle was boiling for 
their benefit, and keeping scarcely enough fish to see my 
party through to Cass Carta, I had the rest buried in the 
bank near the hut for the use of the wretched family. I 
also gave them a cake of tea, and told them to stay where 
they were until my teams, returning to Bukoff for fish, 
could carry them to Arii, whither they were bound. Of 
course they were almost overcome with joy. And I find 
that the lives of these poor people are only a succession 
of such distresses and rescues, as they journey from place 
to place seeking the bare necessaries of existence, which 
they do not always find. 



312 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

When we had thus somewhat alleviated their misery, 
we were obliged to push on to the next povarnia, there 
being a great number in this district, since in summer 
it is thickly populated. As we ran along to-day, old 
Vasilli pointed northward and said, " Borkhia ! " not 
meaning the great cape which bears that name, but Lit- 
tle Borkhia, the point at which I chanced upon the three 
natives in their canoes. Vasilli told the espravnick all 
about our meeting, and how he had piloted us around to 
Jamaveloch. And here I am coasting over the same 
course which I was dissuaded from following last fall. 
Yet whether I would then have pulled through — per- 
haps have met my comrades of the first cutter — quien 
sabe ? 

We hauled up at Ordono at three P. M., and will stop 
here over night. Vasilli says Mat Vay is fifty versts to 
the southwest, or west southwest, and Qu Vina is fifty 
versts to the northwest ; so I will next proceed to the lat- 
ter place, as it is only a short distance from Cass Carta. 
The question now arises, — Where is Bartlett and the pro- 
vision train ? The natives told me to-day that the two 
teams which I dispatched to Mat Vay with fish halted 
on account of the weather at every available point along 
the road, and ate half of Bartlett's fish before they 
reached Mat Vay, and then were forced to take the other 
half with them on their journey to Ku Mark Surt. This 
is dolorous news, indeed; for if Bartlett is delayed in 
transporting the provisions, my party will be short of 
food. We have nothing to eat but tea and fish, and of 
these only a couple of days' supplies. 

March 9th. — A good night's rest in the povarnia of 
Ordono. Last night we were only cold, the night be- 
fore we were frozen. Making an early start, we ran a 
northwest course, passing about four versts to the north 
of Qu Vina, which was plainly in sight, for the natives 
wished to reach Cass Carta, and I had no desire to check 



STORM-BOUND. 313 

their laudable ambition. So here we are quartered in 
two povarnias, miserable holes, and two palatkas, which 
will answer very well as magazines for fish, etc. 

The day has been clear and cold, with a light breeze 
blowing from the southeast. When we were about two 
miles northwest from Ordono, we passed a high island 
which is sometimes mistaken for Stolboi. Our course 
lay so far to the north that we did not see Stolboi, and 
then, too, the snow was drifting so heavily that the 
southerly mountain range was hid from view. 

March 10th. — At Cass Carta. Our hut is palatial, 
particularly in its dimensions — -ten feet square, and four 
feet high. It has no chimney and no door. We put a 
deer-skin over the smoke-hole, and will make a door to- 
morrow. The smoke from the fire in the centre of our 
residence is blinding. Our faces burn, our feet freeze. 
We are miserable, believe me. 

Here is an inventory of our larder: ten fish, no tea, 
sugar, salt, or bread. I dispatched one dog-team to North 
Belun for La Ken tie Shamoola, and all the dogs in the 
village ; and Epatchieff issued an order calling upon the 
natives throughout the Delta to send all of their dogs 
here. I expect two hundred fish to-morrow, if the teams 
follow me up as I directed ; and if we are to stay in 
this hut I must devise a chimney of some kind, or else 
smother to death. 

March 11th. — We are out of fish — out of all food, and 
have absolutely nothing to eat. If our provisions do not 
arrive in good time, I will send Yapheme, the " Red 
Fiend," to Kigolak or North Belun for help. We have 
no dogs left, so he will have to walk — not a very great 
distance, providing he does not lose his way. 

March 12th. — Clear, with a strong cold breeze blowing 
from the south. I was bent upon sending Yapheme to 
North Belun this morning ; so I got him ready, loaned 
him a compass, and instructed him in its use. He has 



314 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

been to North Belun, but went over the road in company 
with natives. By road I do not mean a trodden path, 
but the unbeaten track between two places ; and Ya- 
pheme may or may not be able to recognize the land- 
marks. He did not seem very anxious to go, but then 
what were we to do ? 

Before starting him off we all ascended to the top of 
the hut, and eagerly scanned the great waste of snow to 
the south for a sign of succor. We looked and listened 
in vain, however ; and then turned our eyes towards 
North Belun. While gazing in that direction I fancied 
I saw a crow fly over a bank or ridge of snow, and dis- 
appear in a ravine. I informed my companions of this, 
and together we all looked intently at the ravine and 
waited for the crow to soar upwards. Suddenly a dark 
object, like a boa, wriggled out of the hollow and crept 
towards us. It was a dog-team — so we shouted simul- 
taneously ; and watched until finally we could hear the 
yelp of the dogs. Relief at last ; for no matter about 
the quantity, if any, of provisions they might bring us. 
We would have the means at least to procure food ; so 
we crawled inside of our hut and warmed ourselves ; and 
presently went out again to see how close the teams had 
approached. 

Then, much to our surprise and delight, we detected 
the baying of dogs far to the eastward, and in a little 
while caught sight of the provision train wending its 
way across the snow ; now in full view, now swiftly dis- 
appearing only to mount and show itself against the 
whitened hillocks. 

The teams from North Belun arrived first. There are 
five, driven by my old friends, La Kentie Shamoola, 
Geordi Nicolai, Starry Nicolai, Young Kerick, and Starry 
Kerick. The last-named was in possession of a saddle 
of venison which I at once bought, and ordered part of it 
to be cooked for ourselves and coming party. In an hour 



STORM-BOUND. 315 

or so Bartlett and the provision train, with Nindemann, 
Kolinkin, Bubokoff, Mr. and Mrs. Patnoggin, and five 
dog-drivers, reached us, all more or less scarified on face 
and hands by the cold, but nevertheless jolly and hungry. 
As the deer could not be driven along because of the 
dogs, Bartlett killed as many as he could carry ; and Va- 
silli Kool Gar and son having arrived a short time ago 
with two loads of fish, we have now an abundance of 
food. I have also one hundred and twenty-five yelping 
dogs staked all around me, and twenty people to feed. 
Geordi Nicolai and La Kentie Shamoola I have engaged 
as dog-drivers, and have three good teams selected for 
use ; but with one of these I will have to send Yapheme 
and Tomat Constantine to Ku Mart Surt to bring for- 
ward the balance of our deer. Bartlett was compelled to 
leave the bread behind, and I have already dispatched 
teams for it. The fish I sent to Mat Yay were all eaten 
en route by the natives and dogs, so I will send for more 
for our use while prosecuting the search, and for the 
teams journeying between here and Belun. Bartlett 
lost one hundred and twenty pounds of loaf sugar, but 
hopes it will be recovered, as he at once set the party, 
from whose sled it was missed, to finding it, under pen- 
alty of punishment ; for this is a trick which the yam- 
shicks do not hesitate to practice on the unwary. Ko- 
linkin likewise lost his clothing. 

Bartlett, obedient to his orders, started on time, and 
against the combined protests of the natives, the starosti, 
and the Cossack commandant. It was storming terri- 
bly, he says, when they set out, and the train was long 
and heavy, and the deer barely able to drag themselves 
through the deep snow. By the usual misadventures in 
such traveling, Bartlett forged ahead of the train in- 
stead of keeping to the rear, and meanwhile the teams 
last in line got to plunging and parting their halters, 
bolted off to one side, dashed up a bank, and took to the 



316 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

woods, upsetting the sleds and spilling the provisions as 
they ran. As soon as the mishap was discovered, a team 
was sent in pursuit of the runaways, which were found 
resting on the snow, tethered fast to the sled that had 
caught in the thick timber. Gathering, then, the rest 
of their teams together, they sought shelter at the new 
abode of Kusma, near Ajaket, and next day starting on 
again, they continued their journey without further in- 
terruption to Ku Mark Surt, where they awaited the 
coming of my long -delayed dog -teams. They passed 
more than one night in the snow, Mrs. Patnoggin bur- 
rowing a bed in nature's white fleece along with the rest. 
She is bright and merry, and can serve our simple bill 
of fare quite nicety, for it only consists of fish, boiled or 
fried, and venison, boiled or broiled — the broiling being 
done on the bare coals. 

I have brought with me a lot of butter and tallow, 
mixed in equal quantities and called " Verkeransk but- 
ter," or jzere, with which we fry our fish, and butter 
our dry broiled steaks ; for reindeer is a miserable meat, 
coarse, black, dry, and tough, and requires in cooking the 
aid of additional fat. I have initiated Epatchieff into 
the luxury of a broiled steak put on his plate hot from 
the coals, and properly salted, peppered, and buttered ; 
and he says he shall devote all of his leisure when he re- 
turns home to cooking beefsteaks. 

And now I recall a day at Verkeransk when Kasharof- 
ski informed me that he would have beefsteaks for din- 
ner, served hot as Englishmen liked them. I expected, 
of course, a great treat ; but imagine my surprise when 
a wrought-iron pan (the same in which the meat was 
cooked) about a foot in diameter and about three quar- 
ters of an inch deep, saucer-shaped, and carried on a pe- 
culiarly-cut stick, by means of which the pan could be 
readily converted into a dish, was placed in the centre 
of the table. It was full to running over with fiery hot 



STORM-BOUND. 317 

and spluttering butter and tallow. And the steaks, — 
ye gods of the art cuisine ! They were little three-quar- 
ter inch cubes of beef, browned like doughnuts, and I 
need scarcely say that I was disappointed and my appe- 
tite repulsed. I partook of something else, greatly to 
Kasharofski's astonishment, while Leon, the exile, who 
was present, explained to him the points of difference 
between an English and a Siberian steak. As the dinner 
progressed I saw both Kasharofski and Leon supping the 
molten grease from the pan with table-spoons, and I re- 
marked to them that I thought it extraordinary that they 
could do such a thing, at least without sickening. They 
laughed at this, and said it kept them warm and fortified 
them against the cold weather; and Kasharofski then 
told me of the great fondness of the Yakut for hot but- 
ter, asserting that one man could drink half a pood of it, 
or twenty Russian pounds (about eighteen pounds, eight 
ounces, avoirdupois). As I seemed incredulous, and, in- 
deed, plainly expressed my disbelief of this statement, 
he sent his Cossack in search of a Yakut, and ordered 
half a pood of butter to be melted for our experiment. 

When the native appeared, Kasharofski informed him 
of the golden opportunity that was open to him, and then, 
after a preliminary drink of vodki, handed him a stone 
jar containing the butter. A broad grin of satisfaction 
lit up the native's face, which immediately after was hid- 
den within the stone jar, and he guzzled away as though 
he were swilling buttermilk. A second pull and he 
owned the whole half pood ; the jar was empty. Kasha- 
rofski then inquired if he wanted more. No, he did not, 
at least of butter, but he would relish another drink of 
vodJci. This he got, and thereupon bowed himself out 
of the room. 

I could not help expressing my astonishment at the 
man's capacity, whereupon Kasharofski overwhelmed me 
with a statement which Leon confirmed, and the truth 



318 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

of which I have since proved beyond all doubt. It was 
this : that if the Yakut was a good and loving spouse he 
would go directly home, and eject the contents of his 
stomach into a vessel of water, which would then be 
placed out of doors to cool and collect, and from the rich, 
floating vomit his wife and children would afterwards 
enjoy a hearty meal. The lucky possessor of a stomach- 
fui of vodki may in a benevolent mood similarly dispose 
of a part of his repletion, minus the water ; and away to 
the eastward, among the Tchuchees, families are often- 
times regaled, even to inebriation, with the natural fluid 
discharge from the bodies of fortunate tipplers. Among, 
these same people it is a well-known custom to use the 
urine of both parties to a marriage as a libation in the 
ceremony ; and likewise between confederates and allies 
to pledge each other and swear eternal friendship. It 
is also a useful article in their household economy, being 
preserved in a special vessel and employed as a soap or 
lye for cleansing bodies and clothing, and curing or tan- 
ning skins. Saving the natives themselves, it is their 
most disgusting institution ; and if any Christian mis- 
sionary be earnestly seeking a fresh field to labor in, I 
can assure him that no soil is more desperately in need 
of cultivation than the Tchuchee country. 

These reminiscences of Verkeransk and St. Lawrence 
Bay have made me forget for the nonce our now thickly 
populated village of Cass Carta. So I shall return to my 
journal, transcribing its daily record, and paraphrasing 
as I proceed. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FINDING THE BODIES. 

Getting Affairs in Shape. — My Map of the Delta. — Searching for 
Ericksen's Hut. — Revelations. — Contending with the Storm. — 
The Yakut Fashion of Lighting Fires. — A Miserable Night. — 
Which Cape? — A Clue. — The Myack. — Found. — De Long's 
Ice- Journal and its Sad Entries. — Positions of the Bodies. — 
De Long's Pistol. — A False Report. — Dr. Ambler. — Appear- 
ance of the Dead. — " Dwee Pomree." 

March lith. — Sent the " Red Fiend " and Tomat 
Constantine to Ku Mark Surt for our reindeer. I se- 
cured one good team of dogs to-day for fifteen roubles 
per month and their feed, — hiring the driver at the same 
terms. As soon as I can procure two more teams of 
equal excellence, and fish to feed them, I shall proceed to 
Usterda, accompanied by Nindemann, and pick up the 
trail. When Nindemann reached Cass Carta the other 
day, he at once declared that I was too far to the west- 
ward, for although I was on the river along which De 
Long and party took up their march, yet the place 
where he and Noros separated from their comrades is 
away to the eastward. This is an unfathomable mystery 
to me. 

March 15th. — I received four good dogs, to-day, from 
North Belun, and will put them on rations until I can 
"complete the set." Three teams arrived from Bukoff 
this afternoon with three hundred fish, which I stored, 
paying their road money. I have now opened commu- 
nications with all parts of the Delta, but have received 



320 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

no tidings as yet of the bread teams. I am in constant 
receipt of fresh information from the natives regarding 
the surrounding territory, huts, islands, etc. ; and have a 
queer map conjointly designed by old Vasilli Kool Gar, 
La Kentie Shamoola, and Geordi Nicolai. The names of 
the islands and huts I have written down as the natives 
pronounced them ; and I find that in the centre of the 
archipelago there is a section of country about which 
the natives know absolutely nothing. Of course, it is 
more than likely that some one can tell me who built 
the hut in which Ericksen died, but I have not yet been 
able to discover that person. The weather just now is 
calm and glorious, and I trust it will remain so indefi- 
nitely. 

March 16th. — Clear and cold. I have provisioned 
two teams of twelve and thirteen dogs for six days, to 
start Gronbeck and myself, and Nindemann and Kolin- 
kin on the search. I have not enough dogs as yet to 
dispatch Bartlett from the southward to the northward, 
as my intention is, so that the three parties may meet 
and spread again ; but instead of waiting for him, Nin- 
demann and myself will proceed to Usterda, and, cross- 
ing the river where De Long did, will follow his trail to 
the southward. We have one hundred and twenty fish 
beside other provisions, and consequently our teams are 
heavily laden, but the river-bed along which our course 
lies is hard and smooth. The huts to the eastward of 
Usterda, and in its immediate vicinity, are called Macha, 
Mesja, and Bulchoi Mesja ; these being the names of the 
islands on which the huts are located. I have an idea 
that one of them is Ericksen's hut. 

We set out about nine A. M., and before noon came 
up with the little old hut on the west bank of the river 
which I visited last fall, and first supposed was the scene 
of Ericksen's death. I am now told that its name is 
Do-boi-dak. As we approached Macha, Nindemann 



FINDING THE BODIES. 321 

recognized the place at a glance, and identified Usterda, 
one mile further to the northward, as the point at which 
they crossed the river. We returned by the west bank 
as De Long had done, and when about a mile south of 
Macha I learned for the first time that De Long had 
crossed over to the east side of the river, and had not fol- 
lowed the west bank as his record declared he would. 

It is now plain why I failed to find the party last fall. 
Guided by the record and my conversations with Ninde- 
mann and Noros, I searched the west bank of the river 
all the way up to Mat Vay, and so lost the trail. When 
Nindemann to-day indicated the point of land at which 
they crossed over to the eastward, I took a good survey 
of the river, and immediately the reason of such a move 
was made clear to me. The Lena here takes a great 
bend to the westward. De Long wished to go south. 
His chart, and mine likewise, showed a branch of the 
river running to the westward, and to the southward of 
Mat Vay, — so there is where he imagined he was; and 
this is why he supposed himself to be at or near Tit 
Arii (Tree Island), or Tas Arii (Stone Island), which is 
close by. 

We searched around the bluff, but it was snowed 
under, and too deeply for us to excavate. We dis- 
covered evidences, however, of the party's presence, and 
then, after following along the dry bed of a small stream 
in a futile hunt for the hut, turned round at length, and 
have come back to Macha for the night. 

March 11th. — A northwest wind; the snow falling, 
and every indication of a coming storm. Off by nine 
A. M. I crossed the river at the place pointed out by 
Nindemann, and found a small stream flowing south. 
Following this about five miles we crossed it again to an 
effluent branch running southeast, which we pursued for 
perhaps ten miles, finally arriving at a hut of which the 
natives had told us. But it was not the one we were in 
21 



322 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

search of. I then returned to the main river, and, making 
a fresh start, followed it south to the point where it 
takes the long westerly bend. Nindemann here recog- 
nized the place at which the party camped the first night 
after leaving Macha ; and says he thinks they marched 
about fifteen miles that day. We traversed the bed of 
the stream until it ran out and was lost in the sand- 
spits and tundra. This was as Nindemann predicted it 
would be. 

Continuing then our southeast course across the low 
tundra, we expected to meet a large river running south, 
with a high western bank; but reaching it about twelve 
versts from our starting-point we were surprised to find 
the eastern bank very high and the western bank low — 
the very reverse of what we were looking for. The na- 
tives call this river the Oshee Macha. 

By this time it was blowing so furiously that the dogs 
would not face the cutting wind ; and as night was near 
at hand we bethought ourselves of shelter. The whole 
face of the country is changed, and Nindemann can recog- 
nize nothing ; so I must depend entirely upon the natives 
to guide me to the various huts in the vicinity until I 
chance upon the one in which Ericksen died, and then 
I can follow south the west bank of the river until I 
come up with the lost party. 

We started for Sister Ganak, thirty versts distant, 
and the wind had now grown into a gale, and we could 
not see ten yards ahead of us. On the way we halted 
at a hut called Chogen, which I visited last fall, and at 
which I was now very much tempted to camp; but since, 
it was my intention to leave part of our goods at Sister 
Ganak to lighten the sleds, we kept on, losing our way 
and wandering about in the storm for more than an hour. 
At last we found some fox-traps belonging to La Kentie 
Shamoola, and from these he started off at once, and in 
a little while brought us safely to Sister Ganak. 



FINDING THE BODIES. 323 

The hut is so rickety that we are robbed of the heat of 
our fire, which cooked our fish, however, and we have 
plenty of hot tea. 

March 18th. — It was too stormy this morning to make 
a start, and as it is but a short run to Cass Carta, I 
decided to return there for an additional supply of fish, 
leaving fifty at Sister Ganak for any possible emergency. 
Since I have now extracted all the information I can get 
from the natives, I will leave our two interpreters at 
Cass Carta and ease the dogs of so much weight; for as 
soon as the weather will permit I shall return to the 
Oshee Macha, and follow it down as far as Mat Vay, or 
until I find Ericksen's hut. 

We reached Cass Carta about three P. M., and found 
the camp quiet and flourishing, for the bread sleds ar- 
rived on the 16th, bringing nine bags of bread and one 
bag of flour. The fish-sleds have not yet returned, for 
the last arrivals, which brought two hundred fish for Mat 
Vay and consumed ninety on the road, were sixteen days 
in coming, and will probably require four days on the 
journey to Bukoff. No fresh dogs as yet. Bartlett is 
anxious to go on the next search, but I cannot send him 
without dogs, though as soon as practicable I shall start 
him north from Mat Vay to meet Nindeinann and myself 
on our search south from Usterda. 

3Iarch l§th. — Though still fitful, the weather is im- 
proving. A south southwest wind, and the sun strag- 
gling through snow-clouds. I am arranging the tents, 
and getting things into shape for another start and trial 
to the eastward. I must first find Ericksen's hut, and so 
shorten in the distance to be searched, and shed light 
upon my labors. "When Bartlett joins us, we can sepa- 
rate and spread over the country in quest of the hut, 
which is the certain key to the problem. Nindemann 
does not know from which of the many rivers they issued 
into the bay or gooba, but does remember that the island 



324 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

of Stolboi bore about south of them during the whole of 
the march. If I fail to discover the hut from Usterda, 
Bartlett will have a chance of finding it from the south- 
ward ; and after I have searched as far south as Mat 
Vay, I will then investigate every branch of the river 
running north from the bay. 

Towards evening the sled which carried Tomat and 
Yapheme to Ku Mark Surt returned. The driver brings 
word that Epatchieff is weather-bound at Mat Vay, where 
he has been for three days awaiting an opportunity to 
reach Bulcour; for the wind at this point rushes out of the 
river-gorge like water from a fire-hose, cutting and sweep- 
ing everything from its path. He is on his way back to 
Verkeransk, having faithfully secured for me the support 
and cooperation of the natives. Our deer, under the 
guidance of Tomat and Yapheme, left Ku Mark Surt the 
day after the dog-team, and are due here to-day. 

Four teams have arrived from Bukoff with four hun- 
dred fish ; so I now have plenty of dogs and fish to equip 
my three search parties. 

March 20th. — A clear day, with a pleasant breeze 
blowing from the south southwest. 

We made an early start ; Bartlett steering for Mat 
Yay with instructions to follow the main river or one of 
its large branches north of Stolboi. He has a team of 
sixteen dogs, a tent, six days' provisions, and Geordi 
Nicolai as yamshick. Nindemann and myself similarly 
equipped, with La Kentie Shamoola and young Kerick 
to drive us, set forth on a straight course for Bulchoi 
Mesja. Arrived there, Nindemann confirmed his previ- 
ous recognition of the locality, but was totally bewildered 
and uncertain as to the direction pursued by the party 
south from that point. So we ran off southeast until 
he thought we were making too much easting, when we 
veered to the southwest to a point he vaguely remem- 
bered. Then south by east, then east and west, follow- 



FINDING THE BODIES. 325 

ing a large stream to the southward, until the dogs be- 
gan to weaken, when we halted and erected our tent 
under the lee of a hill. 

There was very little drift-wood in the vicinity, but 
we were too tired and cold to care much whether our 
supper was hot or not. Still the warm tea and raw 
frozen fish found great favor in our eyes. The tent was 
too small to allow of our building a fire in it, so, notwith- 
standing the high wind, the natives dug a hole outside in 
the snow, wherein they soon had our scant drift-wood 
ablaze, and our tea-kettle boiling. 

The Yakut mode of building camp-fires is as fol- 
lows : The pot or kettle is hung on a tree branch of 
sufficient length and strength to project from the snow- 
bank in which it is thrust, over a hole excavated in 
the snow beneath the kettle, and at such a distance 
from the bank that the heat will not melt the snow 
from the butt of the limb. To start the fire, a dry piece 
of wood is procured from the high river banks, many 
sticks being cut with the axe and rejected, until one en- 
tirely free from moisture and fit for kindling is found ; 
which is then carefully split and kept dry. The best 
of the drift-wood is next selected and also split up and 
chopped into proper lengths. Thus far, so good ; but the 
natives are ignorant of matches, and with only their flint 
and steel it would seem a difficult matter to start a fire, 
since they have no rags, either cotton or flax, or any 
highly inflammable material like sulphur sticks. But 
here is where the Yakut and Tunguse ingenuity asserts 
itself. 

The buds of the arctic willow are forever trying to 
peep from beneath their blanket of snow, and within 
these buds is a light flossy substance in the nature of 
thistle-down. Whenever he can, the native gathers a 
handful of these, and robs them of their down, which he 
then moistens slightly and mixes with ground charcoal, 



326 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

prepared by cooling a lighted piece of birch wood in the 
ashes of his hearth. The dampened floss thoroughly 
rolled through the charcoal is next covered up and dried 
before the fire on the same board whereon it was com- 
pounded and the charcoal powdered. It is now an ex- 
cellent tinder, igniting quickly into a hot and durable 
point of fire. But in addition to it, some light match- 
stuff is necessary, and to supply this need, a bundle of 
fine soft sticks, about thirty inches long, is always kept 
drying over the fire-place. Before the native sets out on 
a journey, or, indeed, as often as the material is required, 
the old women of the house take down several of these 
sticks, and carefully shape them into sword blades. They 
then rest their knives in beveled notches cut in the flat 
sides of small pieces of wood, about three eighths of an 
inch broad, one eighth of an inch thick, and one inch and 
a half long, and the operation proper begins. Along 
the wooden sword, which is held against the shoulder 
like a violin, the knife in its gauge is drawn continuously 
and rapidly, and at each draught a thin coiling shaving 
drops to the floor or in the lap of the operator. A bag 
full of these fine curls — which, when matted together, 
very much resemble the American manufactured mate- 
rial known to upholsterers as " excelsior " — is always 
ready for the traveling native, preserved dry in the huts 
beneath the sleeping-skins, and carried in a fish-skin bag 
on the journey. 

So now, with the materials at hand, we will start a 
fire : The native takes from his skin pouch a bunch of 
the " excelsior " about the size of a robin's nest, rolls it 
into a ball, punches a hole in it, and then lays it care- 
fully on the snow. Next, taking a pinch of tinder from 
the bag which always hangs at his hip, he places it on 
his flint, and with a quick sharp stroke ignites and in- 
closes it in the centre of his nest of shavings, which he 
then lifts up, holding it lightly with his fingers spread 



FINDING THE BODIES. 327 

apart for the passage of air, and whirls rapidly around 
his head at arm's length. At first a faint, pleasant odor 
of burning birch steals upon the air, then a light streak 
of smoke follows the revolving arm, and when the heat 
within his hand notifies the native that a proper degree 
of ignition has been attained, he suddenly ceases his 
gyrations, tears open the smoking nest, and with a quick 
puff blows it into flame. Then depositing the blazing 
ball on the snow he soon piles his fagots over and around 
it, and in a very few seconds his fire is in full blast. 

I have watched this operation a hundred times, and 
never saw it fail. When I tender matches (spitchkies^) 
to the natives they invariably refuse them, because the 
shavings so lighted burn inwardly and give off but little 
heat, whereas by the Yakut treatment they are almost 
instantly a glowing mass, never missing fire. And so it 
was to-night. 

We turned, at length, into our sleeping-bags, cold and 
tired, La Kentie and Kerick sleeping with us in the tent, 
but nearer to the "flies." We had no oil-cloth to sleep 
upon, but nevertheless were soon warm and comfortable, 
for the snow is soft and dry, and forms a much better 
bed than hard ice, or even the harder boards in the Ya- 
kut hut. When camping out in winter time, this is a 
point to remember and observe, but in summer, when the 
snow is wet, it should be avoided. 

We had barely composed ourselves to the sleep we 
sorely needed, when the wind began to pipe and the 
clouds to drift swiftly across the sky. The natives said 
" pagoda, bar, bar," and before midnight the snow had 
sifted through the tent and into our sleeping-bags, where 
it melted, and then our wet clothing froze fast to our bod- 
ies, and we could not move. So we endured our misery 
until six o'clock this morning (the 21st), when I drove 
the yamshicks out to make some tea. They succeeded 
in starting a fire, but the snow soon smothered and extin- 



328 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

polished it. The natives then sliced some raw fish which 

o 

they and Nindemann ate, for the weather had stolen my 
appetite, but at seven o'clock I caught sight of the sun 
through a rift in the clouds, and determined to get un- 
der way. It was my wish to reach Mat Vay on this lino 
of search ; but as neither the dogs nor the natives could 
face the fierce wind, I stood to the northward of west 
and ran for Qu Vina, where we arrived about eleven 
o'clock. 

It is a leaky, wretched hut ; but we were glad to ac- 
cept of its shelter, for it enabled us at least to prepare 
our breakfast of hot tea and boiled fish. Towards noon 
the gale abated, and we were making ready to set out 
for Mat Vay, when seven teams arrived on their way 
from Bukoff to Cass Carta, having put in at Qu Vina to 
escape the storm. Young Kerick found this kind of 
service too severe for him ; he would propaldi (break 
down, or die), he said ; so I discharged him and took Ca- 
piocan in his place, who seems twice as plucky. Two of 
the loads of fish I turned back to Mat Vay, where we 
arrived to-night. Bartlett left here this morning on his 
search to the northward. He was lucky to have been 
under cover last night, but is catching it now, for the 
gale roars outside. Still he has a tent, in which with all 
its discomforts I am inclined to believe he has as pleas- 
ant quarters to-night as have we in this rickety old hut, 
devoid of chimney. For the smoke is blinding, and it is 
horrible to lie on our backs with mitten-covered fingers 
over our eyes, or as a recreation to lie on our stomachs 
with our faces on our hands. 

March 22d. — It blew violently all night, and has con- 
tinued to blow all day. The hut is nearly filled with 
snow, those of us lying to the westward being half buried 
in it. We have stayed in doors all day, almost blinded 
by the smoke, and forced to sit or lie down; so night 
and sleep are very welcome to us. 



FINDING THE BODIES. 329 

March 22>d. — At early morning the weather was still 
squally, but as day advanced it cleared. I will now make 
another attempt from the southward, and if I can only 
find the high promontory from which Nindemann sighted 
Mat Vay, there is no doubt of my ability to follow the 
trail as far as Ericksen's hut. 

The sun came out in course of time, and although the 
snow still drifted before the wind, I could yet discern the 
points of land making out into the bay. Our eyes are 
still weak from the effects of smoke, and the sunlight 
tortures them. The problem that now puzzled me was, 
— Which of the round dozen points of land before us is 
the one that Nindemann turned when he reached the bay 
or gooba f Cold, hungry, without compass, and with 
orders " to keep the west bank aboard," he only knew 
that he had journeyed south and a long way from the 
eastward — but how far ? So with nothing to guide me, 
I decided to start at the northwest and follow along from 
point to point until I found the point. Nindemann was 
anxious to go east, skipping many of the headlands, but 
this I would not do for fear of missing the particular one 
I wanted. Then again, as De Long had said he would 
follow in the track of Nindemann and Noros, on which 
point was it that he had camped and died ? 

So I visited from cape to cape, taking a good survey 
of each river, until finally we came to a large rough 
stream, the Kagoastock, where the land ran far out into 
the bay. Nindemann was still uncertain, and sat on his 
sled gazing dumbly at the Stolboi which had been a land- 
mark for himself and Noros ^n their march to the south- 
ward, and which now showed nearly to the south of us. 
Meanwhile I had ascended to the high ground of the 
point, and stumbled upon a fire-bed, perhaps six feet in 
diameter, with many foot-prints frozen in around it, for 
the winds had fortunately kept the promontory clear of 
snow. 



330 IX THE LENA DELTA. 

" Here they are," I shouted, and Xindemann, closely 
followed by the natives was soon at my side. It looked 
like a signal-fire, the logs were so large, and when I asked 
our drivers if the Yakuts had built it, they confidently 
replied, — 

"Soak; Yakut agoime malinki, inalinki " (no; Yakut 
fire little, little). 

I had not yet found the bodies, but had certainly fixed 
the trail ; for I now reasoned that the party had rounded 
this point and I would discover them somewhere to the 
westward. Still I was desirous of securing the record and 
other relics at Ericksen's hut, and so set out at once to 
explore the banks of the river. Xindemann had told me 
that one of the prominent landmarks along this stream 
was an old flat-boat which lay stranded on the shore 
of the river, and in which he and Xoros had camped a 
couple of days after they parted from De Long; and 
now in his anxiety to find it he started off ahead of me, 
with the dogs of both teams in full cry. I always kept 
a sharp lookout for strange objects, having directed the 
others to do likewise, and presently, as Xindemann sud- 
denly sighting the flat-boat drove at full speed towards 
it. I espied a black thing sticking out of the snow, about 
three hundred yards to the southward of the boat, and 
at once rolled off my sled, whereupon the yamshick, hav- 
ing seen me perform this feat before, drew up his team 
and joined me. I hastened to the black object which 
attracted my attention, and found it to be the points of 
four sticks held together at the top by a small piece of 
lashing stuff, and across the forks of the sticks was hung 
by its strap a Remington rifle, the muzzle of which peeped 
about eight inches above the snow. In my eagerness 
to reach it I fell forward on the sticks, severely cutting 
and bruising my face. Pulling the rifle from the snow, 
I cleared the barrel and instantly identified it as Alex- 
ia's. There was no record in the barrel as I hoped there 



f 





* 



FINDING THE BODIES. 331 

would be ; so I sent my driver, La Kentie, for Ninde- 
mann, surmising that De Long, unable to carry his books 
and papers further, had cached them here and erected 
this myaok as a landmark. The fire-bed, too, that I had 
just found on the promontory confirmed me in this opin- 
ion ; so as soon as Nindemann came up I set the two 
natives at work digging out the snow. It was a tedious 
operation, and in a few minutes Nindemann said he 
would take a look to the northward. I then climbed to 
the top of the bank, intending to obtain a round of com- 
pass bearings for Stolboi, Mat Vay and other points in 
order to locate the place, as I hoped to make Mat Vay 
for the night. La Kentie accompanied me, carrying the 
compass, and as we walked along I noticed some old 
clothing, mittens, etc., lying on the high ground above 
the river. Nearing the spot where the fire had been 
built, I observed something dark in the snow, and upon 
going towards it was rewarded by the discovery of the 
party's tea - kettle, a cylindrical copper vessel blackened 
by many fires. 

"Kack, chinick!" (What, the kettle!) exclaimed I 
to La Kentie, and so saying advanced to pick it up, when 
suddenly I caught sight of three objects at my very feet ; 
and one of these, the one I was about to step over — 
was the hand and arm of a body raised out of the snow. 
La Kentie gave one look, and dropping the compass 
started back in terror, crossing himself. 

I identified De Long at a glance by his coat. He lay 
on his right side, with his right hand under his cheek, 
his head pointing north, and his face turned to the west. 
His feet were drawn slightly up as though he were sleep- 
ing ; his left arm was raised with the elbow bent, and 
his hand, thus horizontally lifted, was bare. About four 
feet back of him, or toward the east, I found his small 
note-book or ice-journal, where he had tossed it with his 
left hand, which looked as though it had never recovered 
from the act, but had frozen as I found it, upraised. 



332 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Turning, then, to the last entry in the journal, I 
read : — 

" Oct. 30th, Sunday. — Boyd and Gortz died during 
night. Mr. Collins dying." 

The other two objects in the snow proved to be the 
bodies of Dr. Ambler and Ah Sam, the Chinese cook. 
A few small articles lay scattered around, and these I 
gathered together and put in the kettle. Besides the 
journal I also found a medicine case, and a tin cylinder, 
three inches in diameter and almost four feet long, which 
contained the drawings and charts of the cruise. Dis- 
patching La Kentie in quest of Nindemann, I occupied 
myself until he arrived in perusing the sad record, begin- 
ning at the final date and reading backward. I learned 
from it that, after Ericksen, the next man to die was 
Alexia, and that he had been buried from the flat-boat 
in the ice of the river. I therefore supposed that the whole 
party must be lying within an area, north and south, of 
not more than five hundred yards. After leaving the 
flat-boat they had advanced about three hundred yards, 
but the southerly gales were too fierce for them to face ; 
so they had camped where the myack was, and there all 
but three had died. The journal relates how the remain- 
ing members of the starving band were so weak that 
they could not carry Lee and Kaack — the first two who 
succumbed after Alexia — out on the bed of the river, so 
they "carried them around the corner out of sight," and 
" Then," says De Long, " my eye closed up." (Nindemann 
tells me that during the march the captain suffered se- 
verely with his eyes, and when he left him he was almost 
blind, which explains this passage in the journal.) 

One after another died until only three were left, and 
then De Long perceived that unless the books and papers 
and the bodies of his comrades were removed from the 
low bed of the river, the spring floods would sweep them 
all out to sea. So the surviving three had tried to carry 



FINDING THE BODIES. 333 

the records to the high ground for safety, together with 
a cake of river ice for water, the kettle, a hatchet, and 
a piece of their tent-cloth, but their little remaining 
strength was not even equal to the task of lifting the 
cases of records up the steep bank, so they sank down 
from the effort, after securing the chart-case and other 
small articles, leaving the records to their fate. At the 
root of a large drift tree that had lodged on the bank 
some twenty-five or thirty feet above the river, they 
built a fire and brewed some willow tea ; and the kettle 
when I found it was one quarter full of ice and willow 
shoots. The tent -cloth they set up to the southward 
of them to protect their fire, but the winter winds had 
blown it down, and it now partly covered Ah Sam, who 
lay flat upon his back, with his feet towards the fire and 
his hands crossed upon his breast ; a position in which 
the last two survivors had evidently placed him. De 
Long had crawled off to the northward and about ten 
feet from Ah Sam, while Doctor Ambler was stretched 
out between, — his feet nearly touching the latter, and 
his head resting on a line with De Long's knees. He 
lay almost prone on his face, with his right arm ex- 
tended under him, and his left hand raised to his mouth. 
In the agony of death he had bitten deep into the flesh 
between his thumb and forefinger, and around his head 
the snow was stained with blood. None of the three 
had boots or mittens on, their legs and feet being covered 
with strips of woolen blanket and pieces of the tent- 
cloth, bound around to the knees with bits of rope and 
the waist-belts of their comrades. Ah Sam had on a 
pair of red knit San Francisco socks, the heels and toes 
of which were entirely worn away. 

When Nindemann joined me I showed him the three 
bodies as yet undisturbed, and the articles I had gathered 
together, including the journal, from which De Long had 
torn away three quarters of a page ; but as the opposite 



334 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

one on which the last entry had been made was not filled 
out, it was plain that no record was missing. I then told 
Nindemann to thoroughly search the bodies, directing 
him to cut the clothing in the vicinity of the pockets, 
and all of the many small things he found, I tied up 
in separate packages and marked, so that no scrap of 
paper or article of any kind might be lost. I did not 
then take an inventory of these things, because of the 
intense cold. In all the pockets were scraps of old seal- 
skin clothing, boots, and trousers, which had been crisped 
in the fire, some of it with the hair on the hide. De 
Long's pistol was missing. I knew he had one, and that 
he had carried it from the time the ship was crushed 
until we parted company. It was originally the prop- 
erty of Mr. Danenhower, who, while we were encamped 
on the ice preparing for our long march, had thrown it, 
together with some ammunition, into the sea — as he 
then supposed. But a thin sheet of ice covered the lead, 
which shortly before had been open water, and over this, 
instead of sinking, the pistol went skimming. So after- 
wards, when De Long found himself without a pistol, he 
directed one of the men to secure Danenhower 's for him ; 
and now failing to see it on his person I thought no more 
at the time than that he had thrown it away because of 
its weight. Chipp had given his pistol to Ah Sam, who 
clung to it until death. 

The three bodies were all frozen fast to the snow, so 
fast that it was necessary to pry them loose with a stick 
of timber. In turning over Dr. Ambler, I was surprised 
to find De Long's pistol in his right hand, and then, ob- 
serving the blood-stained mouth, beard, and snow, I at 
first thought that he had put a violent end to his misery. 
A careful examination, however, of the mouth and head 
revealed no wound, and, releasing the pistol from its 
tenacious death -grasp, I saw that only three of its cham- 
bers contained cartridges, which were all loaded, and then 



FINDING THE BODIES. 335 

knew, of course, that he could not have harmed himself, 
else one or more of the capsules would be empty. 

[I am so particular in noting this fact, because of a 
painful story which has gone the rounds of the press, to 
the effect that Dr. Ambler took his own life. This is 
utterly false. The doctor was ever cheerful and fearless 
of death, and I know he faced it calmly and manfully as 
he had done before on the field of battle. He came of a 
brave family, and if the world might read a single page 
in his private journal there would be no doubt of his 
unfaltering courage and fortitude to the bitter end. 

I believe him to have been the last of the unfortunate 
party to perish. When Ah Sam had been stretched out 
and his hands crossed upon his breast, De Long appar- 
ently crawled away and died. Then, solitary and famish- 
ing, in that desolate scene of death, Dr. Ambler seems 
to have taken the pistol from the corpse of De Long, 
doubtless in the hope that some bird or beast might come 
to prey upon the bodies and afford him food, — perhaps 
alone to protect his dead comrades from molestation, — 
in either case, or both, there he kept his lone watch to 
the last, on duty, on guard, under arms.] 

When the bodies were searched, I rolled them, with the 
aid of the natives, in a piece of tent-cloth, and then cov- 
ered them with snow, for I could not as yet haul them 
to Mat Vay. The faces of the dead were remarkably 
well-preserved ; they had all the appearance of marble, 
with the blush frozen in their cheeks. Their faces were 
full, for the process of freezing had slightly puffed them ; 
yet this was not true of their limbs, which were pitifully 
emaciated, or of their stomachs, which had shrunk into 
great cavities. Dr. Ambler, ostensibly to ease the gnaw- 
ing pangs of hunger, had wrapped his little pocket diary 
in his long woolen muffler, and then thrust this great 
wad under the waistband of his trousers. 

From the reading of the journal I now expected to 



336 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

find the balance of the party near the myaek, or where 
I had sighted the tent-poles. I therefore started the 
natives to digging, telling them that the bumagas and 
kinneagas (papers and books) were there. Exerting 
themselves then to their utmost, they soon came upon 
the wood and ashes of the fire-place, when, digging around 
the base of the cone-shaped pit, they presently exhumed, 
much to their delight, a tin drinking-pot, some old scraps 
of clothing, a woolen mitten, and two tin cases of books 
and papers. 

Suddenly the two men scrambled out of the pit as 
though the arch-fiend himself was at their heels, gasping, 
as soon as they could, — 

" Pomree, pomree, dwee pomree " (the dead, the dead, 
two deads). 

Dropping into the hole I saw the head of one corpse 
partly exposed, and the feet of another; and then ordered 
the natives to continue their labors. They obeyed, and 
finally disclosed the back and shoulders of a third. It 
was now dark and the snow was drifting wildly, so I 
concluded to return to Mat Vay for the night, and send 
instant word to Cass Carta for the rest of my party to 
join me here and assist in excavating the bodies. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE BURIAL. 

Bringing in the Dead. — Writing under Difficulties. — Selecting a 
Burial Ground. — "Around the Corner." — The Finding of Lee and 
Kaack. — Monument Hill. — Constructing the Coffin and Cross. — 
Nindemann discovers Ericksen's Hut. — Erecting the Tomb-Cairn. 
— The Simple Obsequies. — A Superstitious Soldatski. — A Yakut 
Bumaga. 

March 24th. — When we arrived at Mat Vay last 
night, it was to find Bartlett here. I at once dispatched 
Capiocan after Gronbeck and the others, and wrote out 
telegrams to the Secretary of the Navy, the Minister at 
St. Petersburg, and to General Tschernaieff, of which 
Gronbeck will make the necessary translation. The 
smoke in the hut is blinding, and to write I am forced to 
lie on my stomach with my head towards the fire, and 
the ink planted in the ashes to keep it from freezing. 

This morning I sent Nindemann and Bartlett to com- 
plete the exhumations which I began yesterday. Bart- 
lett was caught out in the storm and beset by it for 
forty-eight hours. He ran north until he encountered 
our tracks, and met the natives who were carrying fish 
to Cass Carta, when he returned to Mat Vay via Qu 
Vina. He had tried to camp, but the wind heaped the 
snow upon his tent, and broke it down. 

This evening Nindemann and Bartlett came in, bring- 
ing the bodies of De Long, Ambler and Ah Sam. We 
wrapped them in the tent-cloth, and covered them, close 
22 



338 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

by the hut, with snow. The other two bodies are those 
of Gortz and Boyd. 

March 25th. — I started the party off again this morn- 
ing to continue the disinterments, Gronbeck, who has 
arrived, along with the rest. It is twenty versts across 
the bay to Pomree Moose (Dead Cape), as the natives 
have already named the disastrous point, and as it will 
doubtless be known hereafter among them. 

Gronbeck returned at noon with the bodies of Boyd 
and Gortz ; and towards evening Bartlett and Ninde- 
mann followed with Iversen, Collins, and Dressier. They 
have not yet found the ensign. 

March 26th. — I finished the preparation of my dis- 
patches to-day, and Gronbeck having translated them set 
out for Cass Carta, where he met and forwarded to me 
Captain Bubokoff, who will act as courier as far as Belun. 

Bartlett and Nindemann returned this evening from 
Pomree Moose with the pistol which Chipp gave to Ah 
Sam. They have not been able to discover Lee and 
Kaack, or the ensign. Bubokoff arrived here from Cass 
Carta about ten P. M., ready for duty ; but I am pro- 
gressing very slowly in my effort to copy the record of 
the last thirty days from the journal. The smoke is 
blinding, and my fingers are so blistered and swollen 
that it is with difficulty I can hold the pen at all — and 
when I do it is only for an instant at a time, while I 
write one or two words. 

The clothing of the dead is badly burnt or scorched, 
they lay so close to the fire ; and those who perished first 
were stripped of their rags by the half-naked survivors. 
When Mr. Collins died some one covered his face with a 
shirt. Boyd lay almost in the fire, but though his clothes 
are scorched through his flesh is not burnt. There is 
not a whole moccasin left among them, or a piece of hide 
or skin, save the arm and shoulder of a coat found under 
one of the men, — the rest of which was evidently cut off 



THE BURIAL. 339 

the body for food. A strip of a moccasin leg was also dis- 
covered on top of the bank — everything else had been 
eaten. 

March 21th. — Bubokoff started for Belun to-day with 
my dispatches. I shall soon complete, thank God! my 
task of transcribing the journal, and shall no doubt be 
able to leave this horrible smoke-house to-morrow, and 
prosecute the search for Lee, Kaack and Alexia. I have 
little hope, however, of finding Alexia, who was buried 
in the ice, for I can see where the river bed has tumbled 
in and run out in several places. But I must find Lee 
and Kaack, if I have to excavate the whole bank. It 
will be necessary, in burying or caching the dead, to 
transport them to a point about five versts to the south- 
ward of Mat Vay — the foot-hill of a mountain which 
extends into the bay and forms the left bank of the river, 
looking north. All other land in the vicinity, as indeed 
the entire Delta, will be shortly inundated by the 
spring floods. The crest of the hill, or head of the great 
whale-back mountain, is nearly four hundred feet above 
the level of the sea, and is visible in clear weather for 
twenty miles in any direction to the north, northeast, or 
northwest. Here I shall build a box with the timber of 
the flat-boat, which, with the bodies, we shall have to 
haul twenty miles. 

I was troubled about our inability to find Kaack and 
Lee, and an idea kept running in my head, as I read and 
re-read the journal, that they were the two men who had 
been carried around the corner. But what corner? The 
bank ran nearly northeast and southwest, and there were 
no corners in it, unless some fissure be meant as such. 
The snow had been dug out away to the north of the 
myack, but very little to the south of it ; and finally it 
occurred to me that as all the gales were mentioned, as 
blowing from the southward, they would naturally set up 
their tent-cloth to the southward of the poles, and camp 



340 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

to the northward of them ; so when Lee and Kaack died, 
and the remnant of the party were too weak to carry the 
bodies out upon the ice for burial, they simply took them 
" around the corner " — of the tent. 

Convinced of this, I seated myself upon a sled, and 
followed Bartlett and Nindemann to the scene of their 
labors, arriving as soon as they. I informed them of 
my theory, and staked out with my staff a goodly plot 
to the southward of the tent for them to excavate. I 
then returned to Mat Vay and finished a sketch of the 
tomb-cairn to be erected on " Monument Hill." When 
Nindemann and Bartlett came in they brought with them 
the remains of Lee and Kaack, having exhumed them 
where I indicated. They also found the ensign, mahog- 
any medicine box, hatchet, etc., so that I have now se- 
cured all the bodies (save those of Ericksen and Alexia), 
and the records of the expedition, which are packed in tin 
boxes. The effects of the dead we have carefully done 
up in separate packages, marked with the owner's name. 
Nindemann and Bartlett searched in my absence the bal- 
ance of the bodies, and turned over to me all the articles 
they found upon them, which I have stored in a mess- 
box. 

And now that the search is over, the sad duty remains 
to us of burying our dead shipmates. The earth is frozen 
too hard and deep to be excavated, so I shall follow the 
Yakut custom of surface interment beyond the reach of 
the floods. 

The burial ground is a bold promontory with a per- 
pendicular face overlooking the frozen Polar Sea. The 
rocky head of the mountain, cold and austere as the 
Sphinx, frowns upon the spot where the party perished ; 
and considering its weather-beaten and time-worn aspect, 
it is altogether fitting that here they should rest. I at- 
tained the crest of the promontory by making a detour 
of several miles to the southward of its majestic front, 



THE BURIAL. 341 

and then toiling slowly to the top. Here I laid out by- 
compass a due north and south line, and one due east 
and west, and where they intersected, I planted the 
cross which marks the tomb of my comrades. The moun- 
tain top is swept almost clean of snow by the fierce 
winds which are forever blowing at such altitudes ; and 
the massive rocky face is riven and torn. For the snow 
melting in summer runs into the crevices, and then in 
season Jack Frost, the subtle mining engineer, sets his 
machinery in motion, bursting the great rock bed into 
myriad fragments, so that its surface, though flat as a 
table, is broken for a depth of several feet into the sem- 
blance of regular masonry work. 

With much difficulty I picked and pried out the rock 
from the centre of my cross lines, until I had uncovered 
a pit about three feet deep and two feet in diameter. 
While I was thus employed the rest of the force was 
tearing apart the flat-boat and hauling the planks for the 
cairn coffin. These planks, seven inches thick, rough- 
hewn and fastened to the boat frame by means of trun- 
nels, were sawn off, and those about twenty-two inches 
wide, which formed the sides of the boat, were selected 
for the ends and sides of the coffin, which, when mortised 
and tenoned together, was seven feet wide, twenty-two 
feet long, and twenty-two inches deep. With the remain- 
ing timber I made a cover or lid of planks seven inches 
thick, from the centre of which arose the cross, twenty- 
five feet high, with cross-arms twelve feet long. This I 
shaped from a round spar of spruce thirteen inches at 
the base, and tapering to eleven inches in a length of 
forty feet, which I found in the bay water-logged and 
frozen in, and hauled to Monument Point on two sleds, 
drawn by sixty dogs. The upright, which I left round, 
but barked, was cut from the butt end of the spar. The 
cross-piece was hewn and faced fair to receive the inscrip- 
tion, and it was dressed taperingly away from the centre, 



342 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

where it was hollowed out to fit in a corresponding notch 
in the vertical post, the two being fastened by a wooden 
key after the cross was raised. 

The timber was first hauled to Mat Vay, where with 
axe, saw, and chisel, brought from Yakutsk, the coffin 
and cross were fitted together, and the inscriptions cut, 
which include the names of the dead and a brief state- 
ment of the time, place, and cause of their death. Gron- 
beck and myself attended to this part of the work, deeply 
cutting in the names with chisel and mallet in block let- 
ters two and a half by one and a half inches square ; the 
balance of the inscription being comprised in two lines, 
eight feet long, of letters four inches square. These let- 
ters are all regularly formed, spaced, and cut to a depth 
of a little more than one quarter of an inch. 

When everything was ready for the burial, I dis- 
patched Nindemann with a dog-team and Capiocan as 
driver in search of the hut where Ericksen died, with 
orders to bring back with him the epitaph board, record, 
gun, and ammunition, which had been abandoned there. 
His journey was unsuccessful, and he only found the 
pan and lid of the fire-pot, which the party had thrown 
away on its march. The day after his return he set forth 
once more, and, remaining out over night, came back the 
following day with the objects of his search. The in- 
scription on the board read : — 

" In Memory 
H. H. ERICKSEN 

Oct. 6, 1881 
U. S. S. Jeannette " 

De Long's record was as follows : — 

"Friday, October 7, 1881. 

" The undermentioned officers and men of the late U. S. 
Steamer Jeannette are leaving here this morning to make a 
forced march to Ku Mark Surt or some other settlement on the 
Lena River. We reached here on Tuesday, October 4th, with 



THE BURIAL. 343 

a disabled comrade, H. H. Ericksen (seaman), who died yester- 
day morning, and was buried in the river at noon. His death 
resulted from frost-bite and exhaustion, due to consequent ex- 
posure. The rest of us are well, but have no provisions left, — 
having eaten our last this morning. 

" George W. De Long, 

" LiexCt. Cont'd '(/, et al" 

Meanwhile the teams were engaged in the transporta- 
tion of the coffin and cross to the mountain-top. Ar- 
rived there, with the wind blowing half a gale, I found 
it a greater undertaking than I had imagined to raise 
this round stick of timber in place. It was impossible to 
work without mittens in the freezing air ; we had no 
rigging, other than the guys which I improvised from 
the dog-traces, and a forked stick for a rest. There were 
but three of us who spoke English, — Gronbeck, Bartlett, 
and myself, — and the natives could not grasp the situ- 
ation or my orders ; nor did they seem to appreciate the 
great weight of the spar until they saw it swaying back 
and forth, when they all ran wildly away from it. But 
finally, after many narrow escapes, the cross was raised, 
and slewing it around to face the east I quickly chocked 
it in place with four large stones. Then, sighting it in a 
perfectly upright position, I filled in the base with small 
rocks, pouring over them a bucketful of ice water, which 
soon froze and cemented them together. The box being 
tightly mortised and wedged, and the round planks pre- 
pared to close in the top, we next covered the bottom 
with brushwood and some old rags, and on these we 
laid our poor dead comrades, arranged in the order of 
their names as inscribed on the cross, with Captain De 
Long at the southern end and Ah Sam at the northern 
end of the coffin. They were all stretched out with their 
heads to the west, and the faces of those with whom it 
was possible were turned to the east and the rising sun. 
Nothing was left upon the persons of the dead, save a 



344 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

large bronze crucifix belonging to Mr. Collins. When 
Bartlett and Nindemann, searching the remains, inquired 
if they should remove this, I was at first inclined to an- 
swer in the affirmative, thinking that his relatives would 
doubtless wish to preserve so valuable a souvenir ; but, 
reflecting for a moment, I decided, and ordered, that as 
part of his religion it should be buried with him. 

It was a memorable sight. The long train of dog-teams 
winding their tortuous way across the tundra and ice- 
field, and up the steep ascent to the lone mountain-top, 
where, in the awful silence and solitude of that vast 
waste of Arctic snow, with no requiem but the howling 
of the remorseless storm, which cruelly cut our faces, we 
tenderly laid our dead comrades to rest, — as I then sup- 
posed, forever. There, in sight of the spot where they 
fell, the scene of their suffering and heroic endeavor, 
where the everlasting snows would be their winding 
sheet and the fierce polar blasts which pierced their 
poor unclad bodies in life would wail their wild dirge 
through all time, — there we buried them, and surely 
heroes never found fitter resting-place. We were over- 
awed by the very simplicity of the obsequies, the oppres- 
sive stillness, the wonderful wilderness of white rolling 
endlessly around us ; and, more than all, by our sorrow- 
ing memories of the dead. No unhallowed lip mumbled 
an unmeaning prayer, but only a low " good-by," " sleep 
well," broke the silence, as, natives and all, we took our 
last look. 

Then covering the bodies with bits of canvas and 
some other material at hand, we laid the planks across 
the box, weighting them down with stones, and night 
had fallen. The day following the Yakuts hauled load 
after load of round timber from the flats and sands below. 
Large logs were rolled in at the sides and ends of the 
box, and a pyramidal frame-work erected therefrom, to 
lie upon and strengthen it. A ridge-pole was notched 



■■■»W"pwi;tujjuaiiiHWgwmBWii^-it'!.JMi 



m. t 



Mm 1 




THE BURIAL. 345 

into the sides of the upright post, and diagonals fitted to 
brace the cross and support the structure built around it. 
The top and sides were then covered with round timber, 
resting upon and against the ridge-pole, and completing a 
frame about twelve feet wide, thirty feet long, and nine 
feet high. Upon this we heaped the huge rocks, some of 
more than a hundred weight, which Jack Frost had so 
cunningly quarried for us, until the entire cache was 
roofed in ; and it was my intention to cover it the follow- 
ing summer with sods from the tundra, and to start the 
Arctic willow to grow upon it. 

By this time Nindemann had returned from his jour- 
ney to Ericksen's hut, and the only remaining thing to 
be done was the elevation of the cross-piece into place ; 
which, after several ineffectual attempts, we finally ac- 
complished. Nindemann then drove in the wooden key, 
and a cross-key to keep the other from working out, and 
— poor fellow ! — in so doing he froze his fingers, nose, 
and ears ; for it was bitterly cold, and the wind was 
sharper than a two-edged sword. I completed the burial 
April 7th, and am altogether satisfied with the work. 
The tomb is the largest structure north of Belun, and 
the natives hauling fish from Bukoff Moose for my coast- 
wise search for Chipp told me that they saw the Bulchoi 
Grass Americanski twenty versts away. 

Bubokoff and Geordi Nicolai returned from Belun a 
few days ago, and I have sent them to Cass Carta to 
arrange the provisions for my departure to the Alanek. 
Yapheme, our " Red Fiend," tried to impress the Ya- 
kuts with his great valor and importance, having been a 
soldatsJci in the Russian army. But Capiocan, who is a 
wag, entertained doubts of his courage, and often assured 
Yapheme that the pomree Americanski lying outside in 
the snow would arise some time and enter the hut to pay 
their respects to their living soldatski friend. At each 
sally, Yapheme would look very brave, and say, " Da, da, 



346 IN. THE LENA DELTA. 

(yes, yes) ; the good sailors could visit the good soldier 
whenever they thought best." Yet I observed that when 
we all left camp on any duty, Yapheme did not care to 
remain behind alone with the dead, but invariably man- 
aged to accompany us ; and when busy about the hut 
Capiocan set little traps to frighten him, throwing sticks 
or causing the deer-skin curtain at the door to sway in 
and out, greatly to the misery of Yapheme and the 
amusement of the natives. 

On one occasion Capiocan, procuring a gun, wrapped 
himself in some old tent-cloth, and backed into the hut, 
calling in sepulchral tones, — 

" Drastie, drastie ; Yapheme kack Americanski sol- 
datski." 

By tbis time, the nerves of the valiant exile were so 
unstrung that, seeing the apparition with an American 
gun, and hearing its unearthly voice, he almost died of 
terror, and with an unsoldierly shriek plunged across 
the fire-place and into the farthest corner, upsetting 
the fish-kettle in his flight. Of course we were all enter- 
tained, but poor Yapheme protested that the joke must 
not be repeated, else soldatski -like he would seize the 
gun and shoot his tormentor. 

It was at this juncture, and we had just ceased laugh- 
ing, when a strange noise was heard without. I saw Ya- 
pheme steal a glance at those around him and shuffle 
away from the door. There was a movement at the back 
of the hut, where lay the dead, and presently some one 
ascended the side, and an instant later a face swollen and 
blackened with frost-bite, smoke, and scabs peered through 
the hole in the roof, and cried out, " Drastie, drastie ! " 
At the same time our deer-skin curtain was pushed aside, 
and Bubokoff appeared in the door. This was too much 
for Yapheme. Dropping on his knees in front of me, he 
fell to crossing himself as though his life and peace there- 
after depended upon the rapidity of his motions. We 



THE BURIAL. 347 

all burst into a roar of laughter, and thenceforth the 
would-be warrior had no peace on the score of his valor 
and affection for the pomree Americanski. 

I soon had all the effects of the dead, together with 
the books, papers, etc., etc., packed in a box ready for 
shipment to Yakutsk ; for it would be decidedly unsafe 
to keep these relics on the Delta during the approaching 
season of floods. So, leaving a small supply of fish at 
Mat Vay for future emergency, I decided to dispatch 
the whole of my force to Cass Carta, as a more central 
base of supplies from which to start the three parties on 
a final search along the coast for Chi pp. The plan I 
had in view was to send Bartlett and Nindemann with 
four sleds and as many native guides up the river Ka- 
goastock to Cape Barkin, the northeastern point of the 
Delta, there to separate, Bartlett following along the 
east coast as far south as Jamaveioch, where he would 
await my coming. Nindemann was to search the north 
coast to the northern mouth of the river proper, and 
then, if his provisions were exhausted, to proceed to 
North Belun, where I had stored one hundred fish for our 
use. If, however, his provisions held out, he was to jour- 
ney along the coast as far as the river Ketack, and then 
follow it south to North Belun, and thence on to Cass 
Carta, where he would abide my return. The course I 
laid out for myself was along the western discharge of 
the river by way of Long Island, searching the coast-line 
and visiting the villages until I arrived at the river Ala- 
nek. Then turning on my track I would come eastward 
as far as the western end of Long Island, at the village 
of Turak, and thence along the coast, north and west, 
to the river Ketack, down which, via North Belun, I would 
journey to Cass Carta. From this point it was my in- 
tention to repair with the rest of my party to Jamave- 
ioch, and continue the search the same season to the 
river Jana. 



348 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

I had procured guides for all the Delta, except compe- 
tent ones for the north and east coasts. Simeon Alock 
and Vasilli Kool Gar were the two I selected to accom- 
pany Bartlett ; and as guides for Nindemann I settled 
upon Starry Nicolai and Simeon Tomat. So I now im- 
patiently awaited at Mat Vay the coming of the sleds 
from Arii ; and, as there were some arrangements which 
I desired to make at Cass Carta, I, at length, determined 
to start immediately, leaving one of the yamshicks be- 
hind to inform Vasilli Kool Gar and Simeon Alock of 
our whereabouts. I appointed Capiocan to this office, 
but he declined it fervently, and we all laughed at him, 
for it was evident that he feared the spirits of the dead. 
Still he found a way out of the difficulty, saying : — 

"Yakut bumaga, Manor " (Yakut letter, Major). 

What about it, I asked ? Why, he would write one to 
Vasilli Kool Gar and Simeon Alock, directing them to 
follow us to Cass Carta. This was all I wanted, and so 
gave orders to harness the teams ; and when everything 
was ready for a start, Capiocan proceeded to write his 
Yakut letter. He made four tracks alongside of each 
other to represent our four sleds, and, driving a forked 
stick in the snow, rested a long pole in it pointing to- 
wards Cass Carta. He then drove in another large stick, 
inclined in the same direction and supported by a smaller 
stick, and called it Mahor, meaning myself. Shorter 
sticks, one for each man in the party, were arranged in 
like manner, Capiocan explaining that they represented 
us in the act of walking ; and between the tracks he set 
up some more in two rows, as the savaccas (dogs), and 
his letter was written. 

The ride to Cass Carta was a cold one, but we arrived 
betimes, and I at once busied myself in fitting out the 
three search parties, sending one hundred fish to the west 
and one hundred to the north for the use of myself or 
Nindemann. On the morrow, sure enough, in came 



THE BURIAL. 349 

Vasilli Kool Gar, and Simeon and his sons, with four 
dog-teams and a supply of fish. They had stopped at 
Mat Vay, and Vasilli's mouth stretched into a monstrous 
laugh as he said, " Yakut bumaga." But Capiocan was 
delighted that his letter had been so readily understood, 
and told me that I wrote with ink and paper, but he 
used sticks. 

I learned from Simeon that it was he who built the 
hut in which Ericksen died ; but as the country round 
about was very poor in game, he had never completed, 
but abandoned it. He and Vasilli also assured me that 
the huts at Barkin had not been inhabited for many 
years, and that they had not visited them for two sum- 
mers. They were both well acquainted with the coast, 
but knew little, they said, about the interior of the 
Archipelago, as the Russians term the islands of the 
Lena Delta. " Paddy " Achin accompanied Vasilli, so I 
was now well supplied with yamshicks for my journey to 
the west, "Paddy" being quite at home in these parts, 
and Geordi Nicolai being the son of the late golivar of 
Jaolak, a western settlement. And so, on April 10th, I 
started Bartlett and Nindemann towards Barkin. 



CHAPTER XX.V. 
SEARCHING FOR CHIPP. 

Mr. Gilder. — Starting the Records off. — Kigolak. — Sava. — Sabas 
Kokoo. — Turak. — Jaolak. — The " Little Foxes." — Chanker. 

— The Alanek Country and Natives. — The Village of Alanek. — 
The Fate of Pronchishcheff. — A Trip to the Graves of Pron- 
chishcheff's Party. — A Coastwise Search. — Yakut Divorce Laws. 

— Our Wretched Dogs. — Koobalak. — At Cass Carta again. — 
Nindemann's and Bartlett's Searches. — Journeying back to Jama- 
veloch. — Native Coffins and Mode of Burial. 

April 10th. — This morning I received a letter from 
Pay Clerk Gilder of the Rodgers, who says in it that 
he is a correspondent of the " New York Herald." The 
message was brought to me by " Pat " Malloi, the rosy- 
cheeked son of Simeon Alock. He came through from 
BukofT Moose with a team of eight young dogs in four 
days without a single halt for rest or food. So I gave 
little " Pat " some tobacco as an extra reward for his 
fidelity. He says that the starosti furnished Gilder with 
a team of fourteen dogs to transport him to Cass Carta, 
where in all probability he will arrive to-morrow evening. 

I have therefore postponed my departure for the Ala- 
nek, and sent Gronbeck with a good dog-team to Mat 
Vay to meet Mr. Gilder and bring him forward. This 
knocks a hole in my plans, as I have only three hundred 
and ninety-four fish left in my store-house, and each day's 
detention here costs me fifty fish for the dogs alone. I 
may have to haul more fish from Bukoff. 

The traveling season will be over in twenty days, so I 



SEARCHING FOR CHIPP. 351 

determined to disencumber myself of all supernumeraries 
and dispatch Bubokoff and Kolinkin to Yakutsk. For 
we may be detained on the Delta all summer, and then, 
too, it is necessary that I advance the records and relics 
to a place of safety, and these two proteges of General 
Tschernaieff will be responsible for them. The box in 
which I have packed all the articles is quite strong, being 
dovetailed, covered with raw hide, and sealed. I gave 
Bubokoff and Kolinkin both written orders and instruc- 
tions, and will send by them explanatory letters to Gen- 
eral Tschernaieff. 

I must procure more fish for the dogs. I had hoped 
to finish my work within the sledding season, but now 
fear that I shall be " jacksoned " all summer. I wonder 
how long I must wait to see Mr. Gilder ? and for what ? 

April 11th. — Bright sunshine, but the wind is rising 
and the snow is drifting. It seemed cruel to start off 
Bubokoff and Kolinkin, but if I had allowed them they 
would have stayed forever. I gathered together the 
teams of eleven dogs each and got them under way by 
noon; but I expect they will halt at Qu Vina until the 
weather clears. 

The hut is filled with smoke which so blinds me that 
I cannot open my eyes; and altogether I am very much 
disgusted with the cause of my delay. 

April 12th. — A calm and beautiful morning, just the 
time to travel ; and here I sit in idleness — waiting for 
.what or whom ? Gronbeck returned this evening without 
Mr. Gilder ; so I have lost three days for naught, and, 
besides, may have to keep Gilder all summer. 

April 13th. — I finally succeeded this morning in setting 
out for Kigolak and the west, with two teams of thirteen 
and fifteen dogs. Neither team is satisfactory ; the larger 
one being fagged out and foot-sore, and the smaller one 
composed of scrubs and pups. I have worn out all the 
dogs on the Delta, and the natives are complaining of the 



352 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

destruction. My yamshicks are Geordi Nicolai and 
41 Paddy " Achin. 

We reached Kigolak and halted for tea, while I saw 
Tomat Constantine in reference to sending our deer to 
Cass Carta. This is their feeding-ground, and I sent 
word to La Kentie Shamoola to carry one hundred fish 
to the northward for the use of my teams on our return. 
The fish will be cached where " Paddy" can find them. 

Leaving Kigolak I journeyed west about ten versts to 
a Tunguse village of three or four miserable little huts 
barely visible above the snow. The natives were watch- 
ing for wild deer, and had a gun set with a lock-string to 
shoot at them. They told me that two of my tame deer 
had starved to death, but I believe they were shot for 
food, as the people look very hungry. This place is 
called Sava. One small hut contained twenty wretched 
natives. 

Running west another ten versts, we came upon a sin- 
gle Yakut hut, known as Sabas Kokoo, where a man, his 
wife, and little boy were fishing in a small lake and river 
which empty into the western branch of the Lena. Here 
we had tea, boiling a fish for ourselves and scantily feed- 
ing the dogs ; for we shall travel all night, or until we 
reach Turak. 

Arrived at Turak about four A. M., and turned in. 

April lAth. — Turak is the wreck of a once prosperous 
village. There are two or three good huts left standing 
among the ruins of many others ; a little church ; and a 
large cemetery of perhaps two hundred graves. An old 
woman and a lad were the only souls we found in the 
village ; all the other inhabitants are off fishing. Geordi 
Nicolai pointed to the tall cross in the centre of the 
graveyard, and said : •* Yakuts pomree manorga " (many 
dead Yakuts). Taking a brief sleep, and some tea and 
fish, I gave the old woman a little tabac (tobacco), and 
set out for Jaolak. A cold keen wind from the west 



SEARCHING FOR CHIPP. 353 

blew through the mountain gorges, and swept us side- 
ways. The dogs exhibit signs of weariness, and are 
dropping out of harness, for yesterday's work was ap- 
parently too much for them. We are now within the 
hunting-ground of the Kericks, father and son. 

The old woman at Turak had heard nothing of the 
loss of our boats and men, and listened in awe, with 
mouth ajar, as Geordi Nicolai told her all about us. We 
have turned five of our dogs adrift, and others are bleed- 
ing badly at the feet. I have worked them too constantly 
during the past twenty days, but it can't be helped. I 
must go on, and dogs are the only means of conveyance. 
Poor dogs ! Poor natives ! Poor all around ! We crawled 
into Jaolak at a snail's pace long after dark, cold, hungry, 
and miserable. 

I find that sleeping in the huts is not conducive to 
one's comfort, since a suit of clothing is supposed to last 
the wearer without washing a whole season ; and the 
"little foxes" inside of one's shirt keep one forever 
scratching. But it is an unspeakable pleasure to be 
able to hang out the shirt over night and freeze the little 
pests to death. In the morning all that is necessary to 
be done is to beat the infested garment, turned inside 
out, against the door-post, and off they will drop by the 
score, frozen white with the accumulated rime. It is 
rather rough on the " little foxes," but a glorious relief 
to the owner of the shirt. 

I noticed, while approaching the end of Long Island, 
that the river was wide and had discharged great quanti- 
ties of broken ice. The water in the bay may be shoal, 
but I am sure that if even a boat of considerable draught 
found the end of Long Island fair, and followed it around 
on the south side, she would discover the river to be 
easily navigable. For it is there narrow and its rapid 
discharge of water and ice leads me to believe that it is 
also deep. This is the way into the Lena from the west- 

23 



354 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

ward, but from here towards the river Alanek, that is, 
westward from the west end of Long Island, it is a 
succession of sand-bars and shoals, with deep pools of 
water. 

Jaolak is sixty or seventy versts west of Turak, and is 
located close to a coast-range of mountains on a river 
which follows along the base of the foot-hills. It is hid- 
den from the northward by a tundra island twenty or 
thirty feet high and eight or ten versts long. Four huts 
compose the village, and they are inhabited by a large 
number of half-starved natives. In former years there 
were many people here, but they were carried off by a dis- 
ease, said to have been contracted from eating in times 
of famine the entrails of a certain fish, which the natives 
still point out and shun. Doubtless this particular fish 
had eaten some poisonous matter, for the natives say 
that only its intestines are noxious to health. Here at 
the western end of the Delta the villages are all in a 
state of rapid decay, and there are certainly more dead 
than living Yakuts. Nor is the fishing so good as it used 
to be, and there is not a year without its famine. 

April 15th. — We were up in good time this morning, 
and I had a frozen shirt to don next my skin. The 
weather is clear overhead, but it is blowing half a gale 
from the westward, and drifting the snow in our very 
teeth. 

Ninety versts to Alanek and fifty to Chanker, a de- 
serted village which at one time contained about two 
hundred inhabitants. Every soul has departed, and noth- 
ing remains but the graves, balogans, and yaurtas, and of 
these many have fallen in. 

We ran along the coast and across the bay, moving 
slowly against the wind which carried us to leeward. 
For the ice was glass-like, and the dogs could scarcely 
keep on their feet. This part of the bay is incessantly 
swept by gales blowing from the mountains, and our 



SEARCHING FOR CH1PP. 355 

yamshicks could talk about nothing else but the poorga 
pagoda on the gooba ; assuring us that many of their peo- 
ple had been blown from the ice into the sea. And, in- 
deed, the frantic wind did rush upon us in perfect willa- 
was. 

About ten versts east of Chanker we halted at a solitary 
hut in a nook of the mountain spur, and made the usual 
inquiries after Chipp and party ; but the occupants had 
heard nothing of men or boat. As we approached Chan- 
ker we passed many deserted huts, and coming upon the 
graveyards the yamshicks reverentially lifted their hoods. 
There was one prominent grave marked by a tall cross 
and surrounded by an ornamented wooden railing. The 
natives explained that a Russian officer was buried there, 
and added in a casual way, " Cushat soak ; pomree " 
(nothing to eat; die). This is the most desolate place I 
have ever seen. 

From Chanker we crossed the peninsula to the river 
Alanek, meeting with numerous sled-tracks and fox-traps. 
Journeying northward on the bed of the river we shortly 
encountered three Tunguse tents, pitched on the shore. 
The people, wild and wretched looking, half-clad and 
starved, were all out fishing through holes in the ice. 
The Alanek at this point, perhaps thirty versts from its 
mouth, and as far as I could see to the northward, is a 
noble river, from one mile to a mile and a half wide, 
sharply shut in between two magnificent mountain ranges, 
and apparently free of sand-spits and shoals, and conse- 
quently navigable. All the way to the sea its banks are 
dotted with little villages of two or more huts, and the 
natives are very poor. At one place where we drew up 
and made tea, the people had absolutely nothing to 
trade, and were fierce beggars for a little salt and to- 
bacco, seeming more than thankful to secure the grounds 
from our tea-pot. They looked enviously at my two 
yamshicks, who had dry bread to eat, and I observed that 



356 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

both "Paddy" and Geordi Nicolai were generous enough 
to give nearly all of it, as well as their frozen fish, away 
to their hungry kinsmen, knowing they would get more 
at supper-time. 

Ten versts further on we hauled up at the village of 
Alanek, which comprises three inhabited huts, the debris 
of many others, and a number of square store - houses. 
The village is located at the mouth of the river, on a 
sand-spit under the bluffs of the western bank, where a 
small stream makes into the westward and southward. 
About three versts distant from Alanek we passed a 
large unoccupied balogan on the eastern bank of the 
river. 

It was a little after dark when we arrived, cold and 
hungry, and just in time to escape a howling gale. 
Starry Geordi, the starosti, gave us a cordial welcome. 
Every bone in my body ached. 

April 16th. Many inhabitants of the surrounding 
country were here last night to meet the stranger, but 
none had seen or heard of the missing second cutter or 
her people. Geordi Nicolai and " Paddy " Achin re- 
lated the circumstances of our landing and the subse- 
quent burial of De Long and party, and the natives, lis- 
tening in open-mouthed wonder, frequently crossed them- 
selves. 

The morning was bright and still, with the promise of 
a fine day. So I determined to make an effort to dis- 
cover the graves of Lieutenant Pronchishcheff of the 
Russian navy, his wife, and a Cossack force, all of whom 
died of cold, hunger, or scurvy at the mouth of the 
Alanek, while engaged in making a survey of the Lena 
Delta, albeit they had come prepared to winter. I read 
of this in arctic literature years ago, but had an idea 
that it occurred at the Delta, and in one of my conversa- 
tions with General Tschernaieff, I made mention of the 
fact, which led him to tell me the story of a young Rus- 



SEARCHING FOR CHIPP. 357 

sian officer of engineers, one of the social lights of St. 
Petersburg, who, because of some indiscretion, was sent 
out to the Delta, ostensibly to search for the grave of 
Pronchishcheff but really as an exile. He journeyed to 
the Lena Delta and returned to St. Petersburg, but 
without having found the burial-place as directed ; and 
then in a fit of desperation, perhaps at a sentence of 
prolonged exile owing to the failure of his mission, he 
blew out his brains. Thus the general recounted the 
melancholy fate of the young officer, and requested that 
I look for the graves of Pronchishcheff and party while 
at the mouth of the Alanek. 

Geordi Nicolai, with whom I have talked a great deal 
about hulchoi crass Muski, starry starry crass, and pom- 
ree Huski, said he knew where there was a number of 
old graves with Russian crosses, the remains of old Rus- 
sian huts and balogans, and that the legends of the coun- 
try told of a poor white lady dying there, and being 
buried in the same grave with the Rushi commandant. 
Geordi is a kinsman of Starry Geordi, the starosti of 
Alanek, and when they had conversed together some lit- 
tle time old Geordi agreed to guide me to the desired 
spot. So leaving my own teams behind, we started off, 
accompanied by young Geordi as interpreter, for he and 
I had learned to understand each other's signs and ex- 
pressions. 

The morning that promised so well had meanwhile be- 
come overcast, and the snow was drifting before a strong 
wind. I had little or no time to spare, however, and so 
set forth upon the starosti's assurance that the place was 
not far off. The gale blew fiercely in our faces until it 
blew itself out, for it was only a willa-wa from the moun- 
tains ; and with our poor team of a half-dozen starved 
dogs we crept along to the extreme eastern point of the 
peninsula or promontory formed by the river Alanek and 
the Arctic Ocean. We had no difficulty in finding the 



358 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

graves, and my old Yakut guide was full of historic in- 
formation relative to the fate of the people ; acting in his 
enthusiasm the death of each one, and showing me how 
the living buried their dead comrades with tass, tass 
(stones, stones). He also knew of the house which 
served as an observatory for the party, and wherein they 
evidently had an equatorial or telescope, for Geordi tried 
to describe a dome-shaped hut, and, elevating his dog- 
stake to his eye after the manner of a long field-glass, 
spoke of the zevesdas (stars). 

The graves are close to the spot where the huts were 
located, on a miniature plateau under the lee of a large 
mountain cliff, forming the east bank of the river mouth. 
The little table is about forty feet above the river, and 
overlooks the sea to the northwest, and a more beautiful 
point or one better adapted for observation and security, 
cannot be found in the Arctic regions. Near by is a hut, 
at present inhabited, and around it are the ruins of sev- 
eral others ; for its position and surroundings not only 
recommended it to the unfortunate explorer and his party, 
but likewise to the natives. Not a vestige of the obser- 
vatory remains ; the starosti saying that the ruins are all 
those of Yakut huts. 

There are six well-defined graves, marked by head and 
foot-stones. One has two logs of wood ranged alongside, 
and the stones with which it was covered are now im- 
bedded in the almost solid rock. There are no mounds, 
each grave having been tramped or rather weather-worn 
flat, and only the stones indicate the different spots where 
the poor fellows laid each other down to an endless sleep. 
But there must needs have been one or two or more who 
had no comrade to perform this last kind office for them, 
and of these there is no trace or memorial. A large 
wooden cross still stands over one of the graves, and 
about five yards to the northwest of it are the remains of 
another, at the base of which some careless person years 



SEARCHING FOR CHIPP. 359 

ago built a fire with destructive effect, and more recently 
some other vandal cut off the top with an axe. I in- 
quired of the starosti if all of these were Russian or 
Yakut graves, and he said, "Yakut soak " (Yakut no), 
pointing out, at the same time, a dozen or more in the 
two groups of graves, which were unmistakably Ruski. 

The cross which is left standing has a cant or lean to 
the southwest of about thirty degrees. It is seven feet 
high, and hewn to six by five inches out of a round stick 
of timber nine inches in diameter at the base. Origi- 
nally it had three cross-arms, and the highest one, still 
in place, is fourteen inches long by six inches wide. The 
other piece was let in about two feet from the top, and, 
to make the cross look symmetrical, must have been 
about four feet long. Lower down, and within eighteen 
inches of the base, is a diagonal notch, in which were in- 
serted the arms of a St. Peter's cross, as the Russians 
call it. Graves and cross face to the northwest or the 
west northwest, and look down upon the bay and river 
mouth, and across the icy Polar sea. 

The cross is cracked and time-worn, and the characters 
were so poorly cut in with a knife that they are now 
simply distinguishable and no more. I copied them, not 
only verbatim, but in perfect outline, including the crack, 
which extends almost from top to bottom of the upright 
post. 

The face of the country in its winter garb, spotted 
over with the many Yakut graves and crosses, has here 
the appearance of a veritable land of death and desola- 
tion. And yet the Russian government taxes these mis- 
erable people for the privilege of dying here. A sad com- 
mentary, indeed, are these ruins and fat cemeteries on 
the unprincipled policy of a great Christian country, 
whose priests or "popes," the very lowest and lewdest 
order of men, engage in no other missionary or human- 
izing work than their annual nefarious trips, when they 



360 in The lena delta. 

steal from the starving natives their marriage and bap- 
tismal fees, and collect their revenue from the sales of 
ornamental brass-work — in the shape of icons — and of 
wax-tapers, prepared by the priests' wives or purchased 
by the gross from the manufacturers or traders, who are 
not permitted to sell them directly to the poor duped 
Yakuts. And I thought all this as Geordi Nicolai and 
his aged relative, looking sorrowfully at the graves and 
deserted huts, muttered over and over again, — 

" Yakut pomree manorga." 

The weather continued blustry, with a light fall of 
snow. I tarried an hour at this so interesting spot, and 
finally took a long last look across the broken white 
bosom of the great North Sea, on which many many 
years ago the ill-starred dead at my feet doubtless gazed 
and dreamed — dreamed as I did then of a bitter past and 
an inscrutable future — dreamed as does the whole world. 
Brave Pronchishcheff ; heroic and self-sacrificing wife 
and Cossack comrades, martyrs all to science and duty ! 

Immediately upon my return to Alanek, I ordered out 
the teams, and followed by the blessings of the poor na- 
tives, to whom I gave a little salt and tobacco, started 
off, taking a short cut across the country to the northeast 
through the mountain gorges, and presently gaining the 
shore of the ocean, skirted along the coast to the east- 
ward. About ten versts from the mouth of the river, we 
passed a hut pitched far out on a spit in the bay, and I 
wondered that the floods or rising ice had not swept it 
from its apparently precarious position. But the yam- 
shicks said " Soak, byral " (no, the sea), meaning that 
when the floods reached this point they melted into the 
ocean ; and yet I imagine that in a northerly gale the sea 
would roll over and submerge the spit were it not for the 
shoals making a long way off shore. 

Five versts further on we came up with four natives 
fishing through holes in the ice of the ocean. Their 



SEARCHING FOR CHIPP. 361 

catch was very meagre, and they came running to us and 
had a long talk with the yamshicks, who gave them my 
story and a smoke, but they knew nothing of the miss- 
ing boat. We ran along the rocky coast all day, and I 
noticed great quantities of drift-wood on the beach, and 
many fox-traps, and the sled-track of a hunter who had 
been visiting them. The coast is high and precipitous, 
with here and there a promontory ; and at times I espied 
deserted huts on the numerous shoals or sand -spits. 
Without precisely knowing how deep the bay may be, 
still, from the confined bed of the Alanek, I believe it 
would be a good and navigable river to aim for in boats, 
in case of shipwreck on this part of the Siberian coast. 

We drew up at a well-built and comfortable povarnia, 
forty versts from Jaolak, and made tea and rested our 
dogs. The poor things can barely crawl, and such as 
gave out entirely to-day, we turned loose and left by the 
roadside. They would follow after for a little distance, 
and then, unable to go further, would sit on end and 
howl dismally. For they seem to realize their fate when 
cut adrift, and too weak to reach a settlement — which 
is either to die of starvation or be devoured by wolves. 

After tea we forsook the povarnia and toiled on 
wearily and drearily, reaching Jaolak at midnight, hun- 
gry, cold, and stiff. 

April 11th. — I turned out this morning to find it blow- 
ing a half gale. This is a peculiarity of the weather up 
here; during fall, winter, and spring, there is always a 
whole or a half gale sweeping the snow. 

I witnessed a strange scene last night between a youth- 
ful Yakut bride and her spouse, from whom she had stolen 
away and sought refuge in our hut, the home of her parents. 
He came in pursuit of her, but she would not go with 
him, and her parents would not interfere, for it is a cus- 
tom among the Yakuts that when a bride returns to her 
first home the husband loses possession of her, and the 



362 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

mother may sell her daughter to a new admirer. So in 
this case the old lady was in pocket and the best of 
spirits, and the bride was for sale, notwithstanding the 
angry protests of the young groom ; but as there was no 
purchaser in my party we set forth on our journey, leav- 
ing all three engaged in a fierce wrangle on Yakut marital 
rights, which the aggrieved husband was about to enforce 
with a huge club shaped like an unshod dog-stake. The 
law of divorce that obtains in this region is very primitive 
indeed. If man and wife cannot agree, save to separate, 
they simply do so, and marry again at will, or rather, in 
the wife's case, at her mother's will. 

The dogs are so feeble that I fear they cannot sustain 
the long northern journey, though now the wind is be- 
hind us or on our left cheek, and acts as an aid. One of 
the dogs dropped down in his harness this morning before 
we had gone five versts, and his fellows bit and shook 
him ferociously, but he was too weak to show fight. One 
of the yamshicks took off the harness and threw him 
aside, when he made a painful effort to stand up and 
follow us, but failed and fell over. This was near to 
Jaolak, and if he revives he may perhaps return there. 

We followed the coast until dark from the river Turak, 
one of the western discharges of the Lena. There are 
numerous fox-traps along the way, and several shelter 
huts for the trappers. These traps are owned by Boba- 
rouski Gavirillo and Geordi Nicolai, and we slept in their 
hunting-lodge, known as Koobalak, ninety versts distant 
from Jaolak. This coast is full of large bays and head- 
lands, indicating the presence of rivers, but in reality 
there is no river north of Turak. It is a bad coast for 
boats without proper knowledge of the land, for its ap- 
pearance is very deceptive. 

April 18th. — We made an early start from Koobalak, 
and continued to follow the coast-line. Geordi says that 
he and his partner visit their traps about twice a moon, 



SEARCHING FOR CHI PP. 363 

sometimes oftener; so there is no possibility of Chipp's 
people having landed here without their knowledge. 

We ran along the high ground back of the bluffs all 
day, occasionally passing a trapper's lodge, but meeting 
with no permanently inhabited huts. At one of the 
lodges we halted and found the fish which I had directed 
La Kentie Shamoola to deposit for our use. This hut is 
fifty versts from Koobalak, and fifty from Buruloch. We 
made tea, gave the dogs a little feed and rest, and were 
off again, arriving at Buruloch after midnight. " Paddy " 
declares that I never sleep, and will kill off all the dogs 
on the Delta : " Spee soak ; pomree bar " (no sleep ; 
will die). There are three huts here, two of which, the 
owners having died, are in ruins. This was formerly an 
excellent reindeer coast, now the hunters laconically 
lament, "Malinki, malinki olane" (little, little deer). 

April 19th. — Lowering weather. We skirted the 
coast to a small stream west of North Belun, down which 
we ran to the large deserted village of Tara Janga, where 
there are abundant remains of store-houses and huts and 
a multitude of graves, which tel] their melancholy tale 
without need of my yamshicks' explanation : " Tashoo 
pomree; Yakuts pomree" (all dead ; Yakuts dead). 

Traversing the chain of small lakes and rivers, we 
passed through North Belun, and on down the river Ke- 
tack to Borkhia, where we halted as guests of La Kentie 
Shamoola. His hut is the largest and cleanest on the 
archipelago, and he has a fine wife and three children 
(barinchucks), I learn that Nindemann was here four 
days ago on his way south. 

Geordi Nicolai wants a vacation to sleep ; so I will dis- 
charge him and one team for the present, since I have 
now virtually finished the search on this part of the coast, 
unless Nindemann or Bartlett has found some trace of 
Chipp. 

April 20th. — We set out in a violent snow-storm for 



364 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

Kigolak, and heard en route that the deer which I ordered 
to be driven to Cass Carta died on the road. The natives 
hitched them to sleds and tried to coax them along; but 
they had fared so badly during the winter and were so 
weak that they soon broke down, — for the reindeer is a 
very tender animal and easily killed. I engaged a dog- 
team to carry Ivan Patnoggin and wife to Bulcour, as I 
will have no further use for them after we break camp. 

I arrived here, at Cass Carta, in the afternoon, and 
found Nindemann and Gronbeck looking healthy and 
happy. Nindemann saw nothing that would evidence 
the landing of Chipp and party. On his journey around 
the north coast, he came upon the first cutter lying off 
shore abreast the flag-staff or pole which marked the 
cache. It is fully four versts off shore, he says, and en- 
tirely snowed under and frozen fast, inside and outside. 

His guides were competent, and he had no difficulty in 
making the journey. At Barkin he found one good hut 
and a store-house, and five versts to the northward a pa- 
latka (peaked hut). There were many fox-traps set 
along the cape and coast, and he calculates that the huts 
are located about thirty versts southwest from Barkin. 
His report agrees with the observations I took last Sep- 
tember while off the coast in the whale-boat, for he says 
the point was so low that he could not tell whether he 
was on land or sea. 

If the people of the second cutter landed on the coast 
traversed by Nindemann and myself, they would cer- 
tainly have left some trace of their presence visible to the 
most careless observer. De Long and party, for example, 
when wood was scarce or wet, burned the fox-traps in 
the vicinity of their camp. And then, too, the natives 
have traveled back and forth over both courses without 
seeing a sign of either boat or people. About thirty 
versts southwest of Barkin is the large river Duropean, 
full of massive broken ice, — the same as, or a branch of, 



SEARCHING FOR CHIP P. 365 

the rivers Kagoastock and Barchuck, which Nindemann 
fully and fruitlessly searched ; and I now consider that 
the whole coast-line, from the Alanek to Bukoff(ski) 
Cape via Barkin, has been thoroughly gone over. 

I have received tidings from Bartlett. He completed 
his journey, guided by the trappers Simeon Alock and 
Vasilli Kool Gar, from Barkin to BukorT, inland and 
along shore, meeting with the same result as Nindemann 
and myself. 

April 21s/;. — A stormy, miserable day. I paid off 
all the natives, and made preparations to abandon Cass 
Carta forever. Tomat Constantine told me that he left 
word for a dog-team to come here to-day ; but, as usual, 
he lied, so I have sent for one to carry us all to Bukoff . 

April 22c?. — It was too late to make a start when 
the teams arrived this morning, as I wish to reach Chul- 
Boy-Hoy without stopping. I shall require four teams of 
fifteen dogs each, two of which I have, and the other two 
I shall hire, paying road money. 

April 23d. — Out at three A. M., and off by six A. M., 
in a light eastern breeze. At eight o'clock the clouds 
began to gather, the wind increased, and by ten it was 
blowing a full gale. 

We crossed nine wide rivers between Cass Carta and 
the Kagoastock, and further on crossed the Duropean, at 
the entrance to the mouth of which poor De Long and 
party perished. Here we ran into the heavy broken ice 
of the gooba, or eastern main branch of the Lena ; and 
the storm had grown so fierce that the yamshicks lost 
their way and floundered wildly around on the rough bed 
of the river. We laid a southeast course by compass, 
not knowing our position, save that Ordono lay some- 
where to the southward of us; and when we at last 
reached the land our dogs fell over and howled, so blind- 
ing was the gale. The yamshicks searched vainly about 
on hands and knees for a path or sled-track, until finally 
I ordered the tent to be set up, and with the dogs coiled 



366 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

around it and the sleds on end, we all crawled inside and 
shivered from two o'clock in the afternoon to two the 
next morning, — Nindemann freezing all the fingers of 
his left hand during the night. 

April 2±th. — When the weather cleared, we opened 
our eyes and found ourselves but half a mile away from a 
povarnia, whither we went, made tea, and dried our cloth- 
ing, and thence set out for Turkanach. Halting there for 
a few minutes, we ran on to Chul-Boy-Hoy, where we en- 
countered the young man whom I found at the same place 
one month ago with his starving and bereaved family. He 
is now engaged in the construction of three little coffins 
for the burial of his children, and I watched his labors 
with interest. He has three solid pieces of timber, suf- 
ficiently long, broad, and deep, when dug out, to receive 
the bodies. They are similar in shape to the Egyptian 
mummy cases seen in museums, elliptical in cross-section, 
broad at head and shoulders, and tapering toward the 
feet, with both ends neatly rounded off. With wooden 
wedges he split the logs longitudinally, matching and 
44 fairing " both pieces with pins. The top and bottom 
of these two sections were next hollowed out, and the 
corpse inclosed within, the case being then bound around 
with three plaited birch hoops, in the manner of a long 
taper cask. These coffins are disposed of in various 
ways by the natives, — elevated on trestle-work, placed 
in crevices of rock, set upon the ground and protected 
by little houses built over them, or buried in the earth, 
though this is the most difficult kind of burial, since in 
digging a grave it is necessary to thaw out the ground 
by a succession of fires. 

We traveled along all night, the weather steadily im- 
proving, until by midnight it was delightful ; and at two 
o'clock in the morning of the 25th, we drew up at the 
hut of old Spiridon in the village of Arii. Here we had 
tea, and then resumed our journey, arriving at Jamave- 
loch about six o'clock. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
MY FINAL SEARCH TO THE JANA RIVER. 

The Rodgers. — Mr. Gilder's Culpable Conduct. — Harber and 
Schuetze. — Noros and Jackson. — Mr. Larsen. — Jackson's Van- 
dalism. — Eating Wood. — Shumomea. — Oceansk. — Mammoth 
Ivory. — Off for Verkeransk. — The Exiles once more. — A Let- 
ter from Berry. — On Horseback to Yakutsk. — Our Misera- 
ble Equipment and Ride to Kangerack. — The Rapid Thaw. — 
"Jacksoned." — The Experience of Bubokoff. — Kolinkin and 
Gilder. — Siberian Cattle. 

I AT once interrogated Bartlett concerning the where- 
abouts of Mr. Gilder, the correspondent, and learned 
that he had departed the day before for Tamoose. 

From one of the many letters which Mr. Gilder sent 
to me, I gleaned that he belonged to the relief ship 
Rodgers, commanded by Lieutenant Robert M. Berry, 
U. S. N., and that, after making an extended cruise in 
the Arctic Ocean, and visiting the islands of Herald and 
Wrangel, the Rodgers was finally burned at St. Law- 
rence Bay, south of East Cape, in Eastern Siberia ; that 
after the destruction of the vessel, Lieutenant Berry or- 
dered Gilder to proceed along the coast to Nijni Ko- 
lymsk, on the Kolyma River, and thence to Irkutsk, the 
terminus of the telegraph line, there to communicate the 
news of the Rodgers' loss to the Navy Department, and 
then follow the telegram to the United States as a bearer 
of dispatches. But upon his arrival at the Kolyma he 
met my old friend Kasharofoski, the ex-espravnick of 
Verkeransk, who told him of the Jeannette's fate and of 



368 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

our exploits on the Delta. Gilder, in turn, sent the in- 
formation to Berry, and then held on his course until he 
reached Kangerack stancia, where he met the Cossack 
courier who was posting to Yakutsk with, my sealed 
dispatches to General Tschernaieff and the Navy Depart- 
ment. The Cossack, who had heard the news at Ver- 
keransk, told Gilder of the contents of the sealed packet, 
which that spirited journalist straightway induced the 
derelict courier to surrender into his hands, and coolly 
broke open. He abstracted the desired particulars, and 
then forwarded the packet to General Tschernaieff, send- 
ing, however, in advance to the " Herald " an account, 
taken from my report, of the finding of the bodies of De 
Long and comrades. He here turned over to his travel- 
ing companion, the ex-espravnick of Kolyma, Lieutenant 
Berry's dispatches to the Secretary of the Navy, direct- 
ing him to mail them to the United States, and likewise 
to forward his telegram to the " Herald." It is needless 
to state that General Tschernaieff expressed great sur- 
prise to me at the very questionable liberties taken by 
Mr. Gilder, but dropped the subject at length with the 
remark that he supposed the breaking of a seal wa.s a 
matter of little or no consequence in a free country like 
the United States, but in Russia it was a penal and seri- 
ous offense, and he assured me that the Cossack would 
not go unpunished for his part in the transaction. 

When I reached Tamoose it was to learn that Gilder 
had gone, so I returned to Jamaveloch and began my 
preparations for a final search to the mouth of the Jana 
River ; for the sledding season was now over, and I would 
soon have to leave the country or be detained until fall. 
I at once started Captain Gronbeck to Belun, with orders 
to seal up our stores and send a list of them to Epa- 
tchieff, espravnick of Verkeransk. I likewise took an 
account of stock at Bukoff, — bread, salt, dried beef, tea, 
and tobacco, — which I had stored in bags and sealed ; for 



FINAL SEARCH TO THE JAN A RIVER. 369 

I now received word that two American officers had been 
detailed to assist me in the search, and that they were 
about to charter the steamer Lena for the purpose, — an 
expensive piece of folly, to prevent which I redoubled my 
efforts to reach Yakutsk, since it would be plainly im- 
practicable to navigate the Lena with this vessel of seven 
feet draught. Luckily the Department had detailed two 
very sensible young fellows for this special duty, and 
upon their arrival at the head-waters of the Lena they 
saw at once that the steamer was utterly unfit for the 
navigation of the shallow stream, and so stepped out of 
their charter-party. Lieutenants Harber and Schuetze 
then built a small schooner and several boats suitable for 
their work, and finally reached the Delta months after I 
had completed the search. 

When, at last, I was on the eve of starting for the 
Jana, I received a message from Tamoose informing me 
that two Americans were there, at the hut of Kusma. 
Thither I drove on a sled, thinking that I was about to 
meet the naval officers of whom I had heard, but picture 
my surprise when, instead, I beheld Noros, who had set 
out for home in January with Mr. Danenhovver. He was 
accompanied by a Mr. John P. Jackson, correspondent of 
the " New York Herald," who, journeying to the Delta 
to " write up " the Jeannette disaster, had met the Dan- 
enhower party at Irkutsk, and telegraphed their stories 
to his journal. He had then secured permission from the 
Secretary of the Navy to take Noros along with him to 
the Delta as companion and aide, and here they were 
with all the paraphernalia of Oriental travelers. Noros 
had shed his deer-skin rags, and was clothed in purple 
and fine linen, so to speak. Jackson had a Cossack es- 
cort and two covered sleds filled with toothsome foods 
and other good things. 

I invited him over to Jamaveloch, where he learned 
from Bartlett and Nindemann the details of the search, 
21 



370 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

and how and where we buried the dead. And now a 
Mr. Larsen, artist and correspondent of the " Illustrated 
London News," appeared on the scene. He and Mr. 
Jackson had been fellow-travelers as far as Yakutsk, and 
now joined company, and wished to visit together the 
places of interest on our recent search. Mr. Jackson de- 
sired that I would detail either Nindemann or Bartlett 
to accompany him ; but, as I had no authority to detach 
any of my party for such service, I declined to do so, 
greatly to the displeasure of Mr. Jackson, who seemed 
to imagine that he had only to order in the name of his 
master, and I would obey. The egregious egotism of 
this kind of person is amusing in the extreme. At our 
first meeting he told me, with a great show of impor- 
tance, that he would be obliged to me if I would turn 
over to him for his perusal and inspection the log-books 
and journals of Lieutenant De Long and Mr. Collins ; 
that Mr. Bennett had so ordered, etc. ; that if there was 
anything I wished to have done, he would be pleased to 
forward all my projects, etc. ; or if I wanted any money 
he was empowered to draw on Mr. Bennett, etc., etc. In 
short, he was prepared to take me in charge and com- 
plete in a proper manner the work I had almost finished. 
Very much to his astonishment, I was in need of no 
assistance, and not at all inclined either to surrender my- 
self into his keeping, or to be captured by force. Had 
I supposed it was the intention of this ghoul-like party 
to break open the cairn-tomb, I would certainly have ac- 
companied them, and prevented such a desecration. But 
I never dreamed that a person born in a Christian land 
would so far forget the respect due to our honored dead 
as to violate their sacred resting-place for the purpose of 
concocting a sensational story, and making sketches, or 
out of idle curiosity. Yet this, I afterwards learned, was 
done ; and the timbers were sawn off and tumbled down, 
and the structure left so weakened that it no longer 
served the purpose for which it was intended. 



FINAL SEARCH TO THE JANA RIVER. 371 

Finally, with everything in readiness, I withdrew my 
whole force from Jamaveloch to search the bay of Bor- 
khia, and round the peninsula to Oceansk. Ere leaving 
I bade good-by to all my old friends, and divided among 
them what provisions, etc., I had to spare ; previously 
storing, however, all the valuable articles, such as tea and 
tobacco, — an account of which I left with the esprav- 
nick of Verkeransk for the use of any other search party 
that might be sent to the Delta. 

One incident I have almost overlooked — one that; 
well illustrates the extremities to which our poor Tun- 
guse and Yakut friends were reduced by my wholesale 
purchases of fish. Gabrillo Passhin, one of the natives 
who had supplied us with food when we first landed at 
Jamaveloch, and a man of considerable reputation as a 
deer-hunter (he having repeatedly promised to sell me 
venison, but as regularly failed to do so), with his wife 
and children, was on the verge of starvation, and begged 
of me two hundred fish, promising to pay for them. I 
agreed to give him that amount, but, although he had 
called upon me several times, I did not believe that he 
was actually in want until I was informed, at length, 
that he was eating masta (wood) ; and upon visiting his 
hut, sure enough, I found him scraping chips or fine 
shavings from a log of spruce. These he mixed in a tub 
with snow and a frozen fish, pulverized, bones and all ; 
and the wretched inmates were filling their pinched stom- 
achs with this mixture, the fish affording them a little 
sustenance, the wood, distention, and the snow making 
the mess comparatively palatable. 

My party, now consisting of myself, Nindemann, Bart- 
lett, Yapheme, and dog-drivers, got away from Jamave- 
loch about eight o'clock in the fine morning of April 
28th. We halted at the east end of the island of Tarra- 
hue, and ate our supper of tea and raw fish. Then skirt- 
ing the island we came upon a couple of old huts and a 



372 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

rnyack marking several caches of fish, made by some na- 
tives. Vasilli examined the distinctive marks, and stated 
whose they were. We found no signs of Chipp or party ; 
and so traveling all night arrived at Shumomea, the op- 
posite shore of the Bay of Borkhia, stopping at an octag- 
onal povarnia. 

Following the coast-line and crossing the shoals, we 
came to the little village of Bulcur, at one of the mouths 
of the Jana Delta. Here we had supper, and procured 
reindeer to carry us to Oceansk^ two hundred and ten 
versts distant in a bee-line. The natives treated us most 
kindly, but had seen nothing of Chipp's party. We then 
passed from village to village, — to Maxim Bottono, to 
Batter Arack, to Isverska, and thence to Oceansk ; where 
we arrived at two o'clock on the morning of April 30th, 
having completed the coast-wise search for Lieutenant 
Chipp and party all the way from the mouth of the 
Alanek to the mouth of the Jana, a distance of more 
than five hundred miles in a direct line, and more than 
one thousand miles by the sinuous coast-line. 

Oceansk is quite a large town of three hundred inhab- 
itants, composed of Yakuts, Tunguses, exiles and their 
keepers, and quite a number of traders, who buy up the 
pelts and the fossil ivory which is found throughout this 
section of Siberia. I saw many thousand pounds of the 
mammoth tusks stained black as night by age and the 
tanning qualities of the tundra peat or bog, in which a 
great quantity of the ivory, or mammoth (as the natives 
and Russians call it), lies buried. Some of these tusks 
which I measured were nine feet in length along the 
curve, and at the large or skull end were thirty inches in 
circumference ; hollow and elliptical in cross-section. I 
saw one train of thirty sleighs laden with these tusks, all 
marked with the owner's name, en route for market, and 
upon inquiring its destination was told Keti (China), the 
great ivory-working country of the world. 



FINAL SEARCH TO THE J ANA RIVER. 373 

After a sleep and breakfast, I arranged for as rapid a 
run to Yakutsk as possible, via Verkeransk ; for I now 
felt that my labors at the Delta were completed, and if 
Messrs. Harber and Schuetze intended to prosecute the 
search during the coming summer, it would be necessary 
that I give them the benefit of my experience, and caution 
them against employing a steamer of too deep a draught. 

My journey from Oceansk lay across the edge of the 
tundra, and over the mountain district to Verkeransk. 
The road does not follow the banks of the Jana, on 
which both Oceansk and Verkeransk are pitched, though 
in summer time boats are floated down the stream. We 
traveled by reindeer teams, but the sledging season was 
fast drawing to a close ; the snow was melting and run- 
ning off in little streams, and the bare earth was begin- 
ning to show on the sunny sides of the hills. 

I bade farewell to the shores of the Arctic Ocean on 
the first day of May, 1882, and left behind me the rag- 
ged and faithful Yakuts. Though lousy and dirty, they 
had done more than a Christian part by me when cast 
ashore among them. They were not above lying or steal- 
ing in their own original way ; and yet they gave us of 
what little they had, and no matter if I did pay them 
double rates for all I received, I still have not forgotten 
them, as I trust they will all live to know. 

The distance to Verkeransk from Oceansk is about 
nine hundred versts, and the stations between bear the 
following euphonious names: Tallowguil, Kool-Gark- 
Soak, and two or three small ones, such as Belcur, Dwee, 
and Aimee. 

The snow was fast forsaking the roads, making hard 
travel for the deer, which suffered sorely from the heat. 
Many herders were already driving their deer to the 
mountains, and the natives were loath to work them at 
all, since a large number were with fawn, and indeed it 
did seem cruel ; but then I would have to reach Verke- 
ransk at once or wait until fall. 



374 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

I arrived at Verkeransk on the evening of May 6th, 
and received a hearty welcome from espravnick Epa- 
tchieff. Again I saw all the exiles. They were in high 
spirits, and full of talk about making their escape down 
the Jana River to the Arctic Ocean, and thence along 
the coast via Behring Strait to America. I could not, of 
course, aid or abet their attempt, but they had still in a 
double degree my sympathy and good-wishes ; for surely 
they have been treated harshly, outrageously. It is as- 
tonishing, the number of young men who are sent into 
exile for mere participation in students' rows, such fra- 
cases as are frequent in our university towns, and for 
which offense our law locks the youngsters up in a police 
station over night, and fines and liberates them in the 
morning. But in Russia the students are the ground- 
work of the educated classes, who are likely to think in 
too free a manner ; and if they express their liberal 
opinions too freely, away they go to Siberia. When a 
Russian is convicted of a felony, he first serves a prison 
sentence, and is then banished to Siberia out of harm's 
way, going further to the northeast in proportion to the 
heinousness of his crime, — the mouth of the Kolyma 
River being the easternmost penal settlement on the 
Arctic Ocean. 1 

Upon my arrival at Verkeransk, I received a letter 
from Lieutenant Berry, written at Kolymsk on the Ko- 
lyma River, and dated April 7th. It informed me that he 
was working his way west and searching along the coast 
as far as the Jana. Had I known this before leaving 
Oceansk, I would have waited for him or traveled to the 
eastward and met him, and thus finished the coastwise 
search for Chipp from East Cape to the river Alanek. 
But it was now too late to turn back ; and, indeed, the 
season was so far advanced that it was dangerous to pro- 
ceed to the southward, for the country was flooded by 
the rapid thaw, and I had no time to spare. So aban- 
1 Appendix : Letter from M. Leon. 



FINAL SEARCH TO THE JANA RIVER, 375 

doning my sleds and deer at Verkeransk, I began a weary 
horse-back ride to Yakutsk, a distance in winter, by the 
short river cuts, of nine hundred and sixty versts, but 
now drawn out into twelve hundred versts, or about 
eight hundred miles. And the horses ! Old " crow- 
baits," which had survived the wear and tear of the re- 
cent winter's baggage trains. And the saddles ! ! Cav- 
alry recruits never had such an experience, for they are 
generally broken in on that prince of saddles, the " Mc- 
Clellan tree." We had the tree, it is true, but it con- 
sisted of two curved sticks fastened to two pads which 
rested on the back of the horse — and we rested on the 
sticks ; at times filling in the aching void with a bag of 
hay. Deer-skin straps and wooden stirrups completed 
the harness ; and very long and uncomfortable was that 
ride. 

I had four pack-horses to transport our provisions and 
personal effects, and my party consisted, beside myself, 
of several guides, Bartlett, Nindemann, and Yapheme, — 
now better known to us as the " Red Fiend," because of 
his flowing red hair, and turkey red cotton blouse, which 
the Russian peasant so much admires ; and for his ras- 
cality in losing (stealing and selling) our camp equipage, 
tobacco, and tea, and in getting drunk whenever an op- 
portunity offered. 

Altogether, there were about ten horses in my train, 
a rather large number for that section of the country, 
and at times we could not be furnished with full relays. 
We ourselves were a hard-looking half-dozen of ragamuf- 
fins, and mounted on our lean and worn-out, but vicious, 
steeds formed as shabby a cavalcade as ever marched 
through Siberia. Yet we were jolly withal. The rivers 
and creeks were swollen by the torrents of melting snow 
and rain ; and our weak and miserable horses, without 
shoes, slipped and staggered about on the ice, pitching us 
over their heads or rolling us in pools of water. Often a 



376 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

dismounted rider would come marching into camp, lead- 
ing his Bucephalus after him, and were it not that the 
horses carried our extra clothing some of the luckless 
ones would have turned theirs adrift, saddle and all. 
Thus we trudged on until finally we arrived (May 14th) 
at the Kangerack stancia, the mountain divide between 
the districts of Verkeransk and Yakutsk. The horses 
by this time were barely able to stand, and there was no 
relay until we crossed the divide and journeyed far down 
into the valley of the River Aldan. 

Halting at the Kangerack stancia, we turned the horses 
loose to graze on the scant shrubbery which can grow at 
these great altitudes. The poor animals scraped away 
the snow with their forefeet, like reindeer, and cropped 
the dry grass beneath. 

We had been seven days on the journey from Oceansk, 
during which period none of us had been in a hut to 
sleep for more than three hours at a time. Our provi- 
sions had given out, and the baggage horses and the "Red 
Fiend" were so far in the rear that I had not seen either 
for three days; nor would I have been sorry had the 
"Fiend" been lost to me forever, he was such a nuisance. 
My haste in pushing forward was in order to cross the 
Aldan before it broke up, but at Kangerack I met sev- 
eral old deer-drivers and the Cossack whom I had started 
to ride post to Yakutsk, who told me that the valley was 
flooded for miles in every direction, and that it was not 
safe to cross the divide. My meat was exhausted, and I 
had purchased a quantity of horse-flesh, or, as the old 
Yakut assured me, the flesh of a mare which had been 
with milk. It was of a superior quality and of a decid- 
edly superior price. I saw many of the Yakut women 
and children hunting around for roots to eat. 

After a couple of days' rest I tried to urge the horses 
on, but they sank to their girths on the soft wet snow, 
and finally lay down, and we were compelled to lead 



FINAL SEARCH TO THE JANA RIVER. 377 

them back to camp. A fine prospect, indeed, in this 
mountain gorge, with swollen streams on either side of 
us, and almost nothing to eat. At one time it looked as 
though we had only survived the perils of the Arctic 
Ocean and the Lena Delta to starve to death on the 
mountains, or be drowned in the rushing torrents. I sub- 
sequently learned that my two messengers, Bubokoff and 
Kolinkin, accompanied by Mr. Gilder of the Rodgers, 
had been overtaken by the floods in the valley of the 
Aldan and driven into the tree-tops, where they lived 
for days, killing and eating one of their horses, whose 
carcass they moored fast to a tree and hauled up into 
their perches when they were in need of food. At length 
the waters subsided and they were released from their 
lofty captivity, and none too soon, for the odor of their 
floating larder had become painfully powerful, and their 
stomachs correspondingly weak. 

True to their trust, Bubokoff and Kolinkin hoisted the 
box containing the precious books and records of the ex- 
pedition into the top of a high tree, lashing it fast ; but 
the water continuing to rise they became frightened and 
raised and lashed it still higher, when Kolinkin fell from 
the tree and was borne away by the current into the 
branches of another, where he remained without food for 
several days. Through their negligence they ran the 
very risk it was my intention to avoid ; for I had started 
them from the Delta so early to insure the removal of the 
records to a place of safety ere the spring floods set in. 
But they stopped at the different stancias ; idled away a 
week at Verkeransk ; and meanwhile the season crept on, 
and the floods caught them about ten days before they 
crossed the Aldan, and their disobedience of orders nearly 
cost them their lives and the loss of our records, the fruit 
of so much toil and suffering and death. 

Seeing that I should be " jacksoned" for an indefinite 
time at Kangerack, I dispatched the rascally Cossack to 



378 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the nearest reindeer station with an order to drive back 
five deer for food. Our bread had long since given out, 
and had we not been so fortunate as to meet the two old 
herders and the Cossack we should have been forced to 
eat our horses. The Cossacks while traveling in Siberia 
live on the country, and this fellow, I was told, had 
come to Kangerack and coolly quartered himself upon 
the station-keeper until after the floods had subsided. 
The old Yakut, knowing his man, offered him five roubles 
to move on. The Cossack pocketed the cash, but re- 
mained where he was and ate up all the venison and 
meal at the station, so that my timely arrival was a wind- 
fall to both of them. 

On the afternoon of May 16th, an aged Yakut came 
into camp. He was the driver who had carried Bubokoff 
and party to the next stancia, ninety versts beyond Ver- 
keransk ; and he reported the roads as flooded and im- 
passable. There had been a considerable rain-fall, so that 
the snow rested on a bed of slush and rendered travel of 
any kind almost impossible. I purchased his three rein- 
deer for food ; and he then followed his tribe into one 
of the mountain gorges to herd deer for the ensuing 
winter's work. 

May 18th, snow fell a foot deep, whitening all the 
landscape. Here was a queer sight. The snow lay in 
some places to a depth of forty or more feet, and occa- 
sional avalanches had left certain of the gorges choked 
for weeks. Yet when the sun had melted all but a 
few inches of snow, the blue, or whortle-berries, and the 
wild cranberries, no larger than French peas, could be 
gathered in abundance ; and hardy little plants of the 
color of dark ivy pushed their shining leaves through 
the snow and gladdened the hearts of our half-starved 
horses. 

It is remarkable the discrimination these Yakuts make 
in the care of their cattle as against the poor horse. The 



FINAL SEARCH TO THE JANA RIVER. 379 

cattle are kept housed with the family until spring, and 
when turned out they are the leanest, hungriest-looking 
kine to be seen out of Egypt ; albeit they are fed on fod- 
der cut during summer with long knives, similar in shape 
to the Cuban machette. And I never beheld such pecul- 
iarly constructed cattle. Like most people, I had been 
only acquainted with the ordinary bovine, furnished with 
a reverse-curved spine ; but the cattle of Siberia have 
backs like the pig's, on which flourishes a crest of hair, 
long and matted like the shaggy head of the bison. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
THROUGH SIBERIA. 

Meeting with Berry and Hunt. — In the Valley of the Aldan. — 
" Dismal John." — Traveling through the Flooded District. — A 
Tunguse Family en route. — Crossing the Aldan. — A Picturesque 
Scene. — Arrival at Yakutsk. — On board the Pioneer. — Mos- 
quitoes. — Castellated Cliffs. — Passing the Harber Party. — Copert 
Barges. — The Voyage to Karinsk. — On the Constantine and the 
Tow-Boats. — In the Tarantass. — " Ivan," the Fictitious Friend. 
— Irkutsk. — The Story of my Watch. 

On the morning of May 21st, Lieutenant Berry and 
Ensign Hunt, of the lost steamer Rodgers, arrived at 
Kangerack, accompanied by Mr. John P. Jackson, the cor- 
respondent ; Mr. Larsen, the artist ; a squad of Cossacks ; 
and seaman Noros, who had been traveling over the Lena 
Delta in the capacity of guide and servant to Mr. Jack- 
son. Lieutenant Berry and Ensign Hunt brought with 
them a Russian boy, whom they had shipped somewhere 
along the coast of Kamschatka, and who had since been 
acting as their interpreter. 

I was certainly never so glad to see two white men 
in my life as I was to see Berry and Hunt. They had 
journeyed westward nearly two thousand miles along the 
shore of the Arctic Ocean, from East Cape to the mouth 
of the Jana, — arriving at Oceansk only two or three days 
after I had taken my departure. There they first learned 
of my having found and buried the dead of De Long's 
party, and also of my inability to discover any trace of 
poor Chipp. Berry then hastened to overtake me, bring- 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 381 

ing with him a goodly supply of bread, of which my 
party was sorely in need ; and he thus actually accom- 
plished in part the mission on which he had originally 
set out : viz., the relief of the Jeannette people. And, I 
repeat, it was a most pleasurable thing for me to meet 
two of my own countrymen, and fellow-officers at that, 
in this remote and cheerless region. 

After much hand-shaking and many inquiries about 
affairs at home and our common friends, we made prepa- 
rations for another attempt on the morrow to cross the 
mountain and reach the next stancia. So early in the 
morning we set forth, and at the end of a hard day's 
work camped in the valley on the other side. Our party 
now numbered fifteen, and our horses were just able to 
drag their legs along. We rode them from povarnia to 
povarnia, turning them loose at each halt to graze upon 
the withered leaves and shrubbery. We were greatly en- 
tertained on this long journey by one of the late additions 
to my party. He had acquired a smattering of Russian, 
and would shout to the natives, — 

" Yamshick, yamshick ! skulka versta to stancia ? " 

The yamshick addressed would state the distance as 
near as he knew it, and then our petulant companion 
would whine out like a babe, — 

" You lie, you — ! You said it was only eighty an 
hour ago." 

And as the saddle-trees cut, so would the greatly 
aggrieved and only dolorous member in our party growl 
and anathematize Yakut, horse, saddle, and bridle. 
Finally a bright idea occurred to him. He saw that in 
the awarding of horses at the various stancias a few 
roubles bestowed on yamshick or station-master would 
secure for him a better outfit. And so for a time he was 
less miserable; but presently his saddle and stirrups 
would not fit him; and from the wholesale manner in 
which he grumbled about his eating, drinking, sleeping, 



382 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

about everything that was around him, the sky and the 
earth beneath, — I seriously doubt if his halo would fit 
him should he succeed in edging his way into Paradise, 
which I must say, however, is, in my opinion, utterly im- 
probable. And what if he were possessed of all Heaven 
itself, its fancied comforts and glories ? Would he not 
fret and complain and pine for a portion of Hell as a 
diversion ? My language is thus plain and strong simply 
because in all the miles of my travel or days of my life, 
I have never encountered such a fault-finder. He quar- 
reled with things that seemed luxurious to some of us, albeit 
we would have preferred better accommodations had cir- 
cumstances been different. Yet " Dismal John," as he was 
soon dubbed, made no such allowance. When his sharp 
practice of bribing the yamshicks or stancia-keepers was 
discovered, it of course became the duty of one of our 
number to mount the wrong horse — any horse, and ride 
on in advance much to the disgust of " Dismal John." 

We camped in the valley west of Kangerack at a little 
old hut floored with ice and dripping with water from a 
leaky roof. Some of the party slept outside on a bed 
made of the leaves and branches of the pine, fir, and 
hemlock, placed close to a great roaring fire, wherein we 
roasted some venison, that with tea and sugar and the 
remainder of the black bread which Berry brought us 
composed our evening meal. Enjoying a good night's 
rest, we started betimes for the next stancia, fifty versts 
away, on the edge of the flooded district. The natives 
desert the inundated regions, taking to the high lands, 
and therefore the second stancia would be far ahead, one 
hundred and twenty versts distant ; and in all that tract 
we would find no people, no horses, no game, nothing to 
eat. Hence, we halted for forty-eight hours to rest our 
horses and allow them time to feed on the dry grass, 
which the dissolving snow was abundantly revealing. 

Taking possession of the deserted povarnia, we killed 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 383 

a deer that we had brought along with us for food, and 
tethered the others where a little reindeer - moss was 
showing itself. Just as we arrived at the staneia a Tun- 
guse family was leaving it, mounted, wife, boys, girls, 
and babies, on the backs, or, rather, shoulders, of rein- 
deer. Two of the smaller children were suspended on 
either side of a reindeer by means of a strap passing 
around their bodies and over the back of the animal ; 
two additional thongs adjusting their arms and legs into 
position. And the little rats did not seem at all ruffled 
by their situation ; and I must here remark the decidedly 
superior temper and behavior of both Yakut and Tun- 
guse babies over those of enlightened Christendom. 

The deluged district, which had been so thickly popu- 
lated the previous winter, was now the picture of desola- 
tion. We passed through quondam villages of ten or fif- 
teen huts, so entirely gutted by the waters that only the 
ragged uprights were left standing, to be covered afresh 
with earth for the winter's occupation. The country 
bordering on the river was overspread with short tus- 
socky grass, with patches of glassy ice between, on which 
our feeble and unshod horses slipped and floundered, giv- 
ing us many an ugly fall and ducking. It rained almost 
incessantly, — a cold sleet-like rain, and we were never 
dry or comfortable ; nor did even the oaths and groans 
of our dismal companion tend to promote hilarity in our 
ranks. At the povarnias in the evenings his counte- 
nance would light up, providing we had been able during 
the day to secure a duck for each member of the party, 
either by purchase or through the sportsmanship of the 
Cossacks. Then he would bestow a greedy smile upon 
our cook, Yapheme, who, inclosing the split ducks in a 
long-handled gridiron, broiled them to a turn with pep- 
per, salt, and a mixture of butter and tallow. Yes, I 
verily believe that he not only looked, but actually felt 
glad at times, if he received the first pot of tea, the first 



384 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

duck, if it was a large and tender one, and broiled ex- 
actly right, — yet if all these "ifs " were not fulfilled I 
am quite certain he was still wretched. 

Thus we progressed, for the most part happy and con- 
tented, though cold, wet, and lousy, until we arrived on 
the 31st day of May at the bank of the river Aldan. 
Halting and building a fire, we hailed the ferryman on 
the opposite bank, and discharged our guns to attract his 
attention, but in vain. Finally we sent a Cossack across 
in a canoe which we found moored to the shore ; and, 
pending his return, we surveyed with interest the sad 
havoc which the flood had wrought on the banks of this 
great tributary of the Lena. Monstrous blocks of ice as 
large as small cottages lay stranded ashore, and the water 
had risen in places to a height of forty feet, as indicated 
by the drift-wood lodged in trees, thousands of which had 
been torn up by the roots or hurled flat by the overrun- 
ning ice, and swept out to sea, there to drift on that 
long north and west course into the Atlantic Ocean, or 
float down on the southerly current and strew the shores 
of the east coast of Spitzbergen. 

We were ferried across the Aldan River at two o'clock 
on the morning of June 1st, in a large flat-bottomed boat 
fashioned like a New England fishing dory, but sharper 
at the stern and of considerable sheer. It was probably 
sixty feet long by ten or twelve feet beam and four feet 
deep ; open from stem to stern, but furnished with a 
raised platform amidships on which the passengers sat ; 
and it was rowed by eight men, some of our party assist- 
ing. The scene was wildly picturesque. Our roughly- 
built boat; the savage - looking oarsmen; ourselves, if 
anything, more savage in appearance, clad in rags and 
the skins of beasts, bearing guns and other trophies of 
our Arctic travel ; the dark, cold river; the massive ice- 
blocks standing in the vast silent woods like so many 
white cottages ; the utter loneliness of the scene, — I 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 385 

can never forget it, and though sick at heart and failing 
in strength, I then rejoiced that I had lived to witness it. 

Landed on the other side, we were soon installed in a 
comfortable hut, and partaking of a good meal of ducks ; 
and here we were first informed of the narrow escape of 
Bubokoff, Kolinkin, and Gilder. I could not advance all 
of my party on the morrow, for the horses which were 
here tendered us had by no means recovered from their 
constant work during the past winter ; so I dispatched a 
Cossack and Bartlett ahead to prepare the way for our 
coming, and left a Cossack and another of my men be- 
hind to follow us with the baggage. 

The journey from the river Aldan to Yakutsk was most 
tedious and disagreeable, but arrive we did at last, June 
7th, and were welcomed by all the officials of the town. 
Madame Lempert cooked us a capital dinner, and we then 
repaired to the Balogan Americanski, our old quarters 
of the preceding winter, where we found Messrs. Gilder 
and Bartlett. 

The day following, accompanied by Lieutenant Berry, 
I called upon the governor -general, who received me 
with open arms, calling me his son, and embracing me 
fervently with tears in his eyes, as though I had been 
one he loved just arisen from the grave. He compli- 
mented me on the success of my search ; he was proud, 
he said, to be associated with such a " son." Returning 
our call the next day, he invited Lieutenant Berry and 
myself to dinner, to meet the lieutenant-governor and 
Lieutenant Irjansk of the Russian Navy, who was then 
at Yakutsk preparing to set out for the mouth of the 
Lena River, to establish a meteorological station and 
make a survey of the Delta. 

Lieutenants Harber and Schuetze had not yet departed 
from Vitim, where they were still engaged in fitting out a 
small schooner and several light-draught boats for their 
search of the Delta, they having sensibly abandoned 

25 



386 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

their original idea of chartering the steamboat Lena. I 
was disappointed at not meeting them in Yakutsk, and 
so drawing sufficient money to pay off all my debts and 
the expenses of my party to New York, I decided to pro- 
ceed at once to Vitim. 

The governor -general gave a farewell breakfast at 
which we were all assembled, and many were our toasts 
and pleasant speeches and fond hopes for each other's 
future happiness and prosperity. Accompanied, then, 
by the governor and hosts of friends we sought the 
steamer Pioneer, which was to bear us up the river as 
far as Vitim. All Yakutsk was out to see us off, and 
about five o'clock in the evening of June 11th we started 
slowly up the Lena. 

The steamer was small, dirty, and hot. Warm weather 
had now set in, and we knew no rest because of the mos- 
quitoes. The Pioneer made slow progress against the 
swift current, at times making none at all, or zigzag- 
ging her course to avoid the rapids or dodge into eddies, 
and so crawl up stream. It was a mystery to me how 
she was managed, for there seemed to be but one set of 
men who ran her day and night without relief. Our 
party slept in the two little cabins, one forward and the 
other abaft the paddle-wheels, and luckily there were no 
other passengers. We drew water from the river and 
washed ourselves in a deck-bucket, using our own soap 
and towels. We had agreed to pay six kopecks per verst 
for transportation, and two roubles per day for food, but 
as the unchanging diet of boiled beef and tea soon palled 
on us, we purchased milk, eggs, and other provisions at 
the wooding stations, and if the mosquitoes had not in- 
terfered we should certainly have spent an amiable and 
enjoyable time. 

One evening, while sitting on the bows of the boat try- 
ing to keep cool, we saw ahead of us what seemed to be a 
great sand-bank, and so we warned the pilot. But what 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 387 

was our surprise as the steamer neared the bank to see it 
arise and pass over and on either side of us like a column 
of smoke. It was a bank of mosquitoes. Noth with- 
standing our calico head-covers which we tucked under 
our coats, and which had horse-hair faces or visors at- 
tached, the fine midges or black flies managed to get 
through and into our eyes and nostrils, causing us un- 
speakable annoyance. To protect our bodies we had 
buckskin gloves with tie-strings around the wrists, but the 
miserable little torments got at us nevertheless. There 
was a ventilation hole in my fur cap through which they 
bit me on the top of the head. They were everywhere. 

The second day on the river, and during the two suc- 
ceeding days, we passed the most remarkable extent of 
palisades or castellated cliffs I have ever seen. In places 
they towered to a height of two thousand or more feet, 
and for miles and miles the wonderful unbroken rocky 
facade arose from the river, turret and buttress constantly 
varying in projections of columnar beauty. The rock had 
the color and appearance of brown sandstone from the 
deck of the steamer, but I could not fully distinguish it 
at such a distance. It was not regular, like the basaltic 
columns, and I know of nothing that it resembled in na- 
ture or architecture but a stupendous front of castle wall. 

On the morning of June 15th I was told by the cap- 
tain of the Pioneer that a steamboat had passed us in the 
night, having in tow a schooner and two small boats. He 
thought it might have been the Harber party, whom I 
had instructed him to stop in order that we might consult 
together ; but from stupidity or a rascally fear of losing 
some passage money he had deliberately allowed them 
to go by. However, it made but little difference, for in 
several days we arrived at Olekma, where I found a note 
left for me by Lieutenant Harber, the first communica- 
tion I had received from him. He therein desired me to 
return to Yakutsk should we miss each other on the river. 



388 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

This I did not think at all necessary, since I had al- 
ready completed to my own satisfaction a fruitless coast- 
wise search for Chipp, and at the only time when it 
would be possible to find traces of him had he landed. 
For if any track or vestige had indeed escaped my no- 
tice, it had ere this time been swept away by the spring 
floods. Yet as Lieutenant Berry was about to dispatch 
Ensign Hunt to join the Harber party, I concluded to 
send along with him fireman Bartlett, who volunteered 
to go. I also prepared for the party's guidance a letter 
of instructions, and a chart of the Delta on which my 
various tracks were marked. Returning to Yakutsk on 
horseback, Hunt and Bartlett met Lieutenant Harber, 
who was riding back in the hope of overtaking me on 
the Pioneer, and he would doubtless have succeeded had 
he not encountered Hunt, who gave him my letter and 
chart. 1 

1 [Lieutenants Harber and Schuetze pushed forward in their little 
schooner, the Search, and reached the mouth of the Lena in July, 
1882. Their coastwise search for Chipp was barren of results. 

In December they received at Yakutsk the order (which had been 
six months in transmission) to bring back the bodies of De Long 
and party to the United States, Congress having appropriated 
$25,000 for that purpose. 

Below is a table of the magnificent distances over which the re- 
mains, wrapped in felt and placed in metallic caskets, were trans- 
ported : — 

Table of Distances. Miles. 

Mat Vay, by reindeer sleds, to Yakutsk . . . 800 
Yakutsk, by horse-sled, to Irkutsk .... 2,342 

Irkutsk, by horse-sled, to Krasnoyarsk . . . . 670 
Krasnoyarsk, by horse-sled, to Tomsk ... 367 

Tomsk, by horse-sled, to Omsk 582 

Omsk, by horse-sled, to Orenburg .... 1,000 

Orenburg, by railroad, to Moscow (about) . . . 900 

Moscow, by railroad, to Hamburg .... 1,390 

Hamburg to New York 4,140 



Total 12,191 

At Hamburg the two officers embarked with their dead on the 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 389 

I continued on my journey up the Lena ; the villages 
becoming quite numerous, though still small and scatter- 
ing. The people here carry on a feeble kind of agricul- 
ture ; own some cattle ; a few chickens ; cut wood for the 
steamboats ; fish a little, and work as watermen on the 
river. We now passed great numbers of large barges 
belonging to wealthy coperts. They are capacious store- 
houses, forty, some eighty, feet long, built of heavy tim- 
ber, decked over, and strongly fastened together with 
wooden tree-nails, the seams being caulked with moss and 
payed with pitch. They are Duilt on the banks of the 
river in winter time and launched by the spring floods, 
being freighted with all sorts of goods suitable for trade ; 
and they float down stream with the current, occasion- 
ally flying a sail, and being steered by means of three 
long sweeps forty or more feet in length, which are rarely 
used to propel, but only to guide them clear of the shoals. 
They halt at all the villages along the river, and often 
congregate at some large settlement and hold a bazaar. 
These, of course, are gala days to the villagers, who forth- 
with affect the cheap colognes and gaudy bandanas, con- 
siderably to the glee of the flourishing coperts. 

We visited several of these barges, our companion and 
interpreter, Captain Gronbeck, being acquainted with 
many of the traders, who all received us with distin- 
guished consideration. Some of the barges were nicely 
furnished, and the merchants were accompanied by their 
wives, or had a few passengers on board. They all make 
Yakutsk their terminus, and if they have not entirely 
disposed of their goods by the time they arrive there, 
they hold an auction, and also sell their barges for fire- 
steamer Frisia, arriving at New York February 20, 1884, after an 
absence of two years and sixteen days. Everywhere along the 
whole route, in Asia, Europe, and America, the dead heroes were 
honored with rich tributes of respect, and the final grand procession 
and solemn burial in New York on Washington's Birthday of this 
year (1884) are yet fresh in the memory of the reader. — Ed.] 



390 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

wood or building material, as the timber is all hewn and 
easily taken apart. The banks of the river are strewn 
with the wrecks of the monster boats, which have either 
come to grief or been turned adrift after discharging 
their cargoes. 

There were many exile Scaup villages along the river. 
I visited one inhabited by thirty-three men and three 
women, all mutilated and miserable looking, but thrifty 
and prosperous ; and I am of the opinion that the love of 
money is the root of their religious frenzy. They were 
anxious to purchase a flour-mill and drive it by means 
of a wind-mill, — quite an institution thereabouts. The 
Scaups raise great quantities of vegetables, and are the 
only industrious farmers on the Lena. Their estates 
upon death go into the state treasury, but they always 
manage to quietly rid themselves of their property before 
they die ; so the governor told me. 

While paddling along the river I beheld two dead men 
floating in the stream, and had seen one earlier in the 
day. Mentioning the fact to the captain of our boat, he 
said : — 

" Yes ; we passed two others this morning before you 
arose. They are only the men from the mines who come 
to attend the bazaar, get drunk, and kill each other ; and, 
besides, there are many Judes, who murder people for 
their money. I have seen fifteen corpses floating in the 
river at one time." And Captain Gronbeck confirmed 
his statement. 

These criminals who are sent to the mines are a hope- 
less collection of cut-throats. Those, I believe, employed 
by Alexander Silenikoff are all fed, clothed, and paid for 
their labor, and allowed to visit the bazaars and spend 
their earnings, which they mostly do in drink, and their 
orgies end in death and a watery grave. 

We changed steamers at a large village of four or five 
thousand inhabitants, called Karinsk, boarding the Con- 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 391 

stantine, a more powerful and commodious boat, in which 
our progress up the river became pleasantly perceptible. 
The Lena's banks- were now dotted with villages ten or 
fifteen versts apart, and at many points within sight of 
each other. At Omalai we abandoned the Constantine, 
and continued our journey on the river in tow-boats. 
These are about forty feet long and ten feet beam, built 
in the shape of a whale-boat, with sharp ends, but 
straight, flaring sides, and flat bottoms like a dory. 
They are steered with a long oar, and drawn by three or 
five horses attached to a tow-line about fifty yards in 
length. One or two riders guide the horses, and the 
charges are three or five kopecks per verst for three or 
five horses, and a gratuity of ten kopecks to each rider 
and the steersman. The rate of speed is a lively walk, 
though the horses occasionally break into a harmless trot. 
A platform is raised for the passengers ; and there is a 
movable shelter, a little less wide than the beam of the 
boat, and ten feet long, made of bent poles, covered with 
canvas and painted with bitumen. It is open at front 
and back, but in daytime a curtain is hung at the sunny 
end, and the air drawing through keeps the passengers 
cool. We traveled about three hundred versts in these 
boats, at the rate of from sixty to eighty versts a day, 
buying eggs, milk, and bread at the boat stations, and 
cooking our tea as we went along. 

Our journey of four hundred and fifty versts to Irkutsk 
was performed in the tarantass, a large four-wheeled 
coach carried on long pole springs and leather straps, in 
the manner of our old-fashioned carriages, and drawn by 
three or five horses hitched abreast. We ran along day 
and night, sleeping in our tarantass, or tallega, another 
kind of four-wheeled conveyance covered in against the 
sun and rain. These vehicles are as heavy as an ordinary 
omnibus, and are intended to hold two or three passen- 
gers, the fare being three kopecks per verst for three 



392 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

horses, irrespective of the number of passengers, one, two, 
or three ; but three kopecks per verst extra for two addi- 
tional horses, and a gratuity of ten kopecks to the yam- 
shick, the omission of which is sure to rob the horses of 
all speed. 

I found an utter lack of honesty among the station- 
keepers, who are supposed to forward all travelers at reg- 
ular rates and in regular order. But as soon as it be- 
comes known that the traveler is in a hurry and willing 
to pay extra money, so soon is he informed that there 
are no horses, or that those on hand must be kept for the 
"posta." But, the station-keeper tells you, he has a 
friend, Ivan, from whom you can hire horses for double, 
treble, or five times the usual rates. I allowed myself, at 
times, to pay these outrageous prices, in order to keep 
our dolorous companion in the rear, and I managed to 
do so until we reached a station twenty versts from Ir- 
kutsk, where I secured the only post-horses in the vil- 
lage ; but while breakfasting, " Dismal John " arrived 
in delirious haste, and, paying the premium for "Ivan's" 
horses, managed to outstrip me in the race to Irkutsk. 

We all repaired to the Hotel Decco, and I at once tel- 
egraphed the Secretary of the Navy of the arrival of my- 
self and party with all the records of the expedition, 
and requested permission to return home. The answer 
to my telegram was thus orthographically mutilated : — 

" Washington, July 8th. 
" May return home with pary. 

" Chander, Secretary." 

I then called upon the lieutenant-governor, Pedo- 
shenko, and other officials, receiving a warm welcome 
from all. 

Irkutsk is the grand emporium of the far Northeast ; a 
city of about 25,000 inhabitants, and well built of brick 
and wood. A large section of it was destroyed by fire in 
1878, and the residents having none of the public spirit 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 393 

displayed in our cities, where such damages are almost 
instantly made good, the ruins still remain undisturbed. 
It was a noteworthy sight to see the caravans coming 
in from the distant south, laden with the tea and other 
produce of China and Tartary. Many Chinamen were 
assembled here, all active business men ; but not in the 
laundry line, for which Irkutsk has little patronage. Ex- 
iles, too, of every grade are abundant, from the murderer 
to the unlucky prince or political offender. 

Lieutenant Berry was possessed of a fine gold chro- 
nometer watch which needed repairing, and he was rec- 
ommended to a watchmaker of the same name as the 
celebrated Danish chronometer-maker, Jiirgensen. We 
visited his shop together, and, after Berry had displayed 
his handsome chronometer, I for amusement drew forth 
my old time-piece, which for more than twenty years had 
been measuring off the minutes of my life all over the 
globe. The old man smiled" at sight of it, but undertook 
to put it in good order, and so I left it with him. And 
here I will redeem a promise I have somewhere made of 
telling the story of my watch's vicissitudes during the 
cruise of the Jeannette. 

On the day when the Jeannette sank, her bows were 
thrown upward, the ice ceased for a spell its fierce intent 
to crush her ; and as the sun was shining brightly, De 
Long requested me to make a photograph of the doomed 
ship. So I set up the camera, using my watch to time 
the plate, and hence when the Jeannette went down I 
had the watch upon my person, otherwise it would have 
been lost with the rest of my valuables. While in the 
dark room developing the plate, it may be recalled that 
the ice again began its fatal ramming, and the word was 
passed for all hands to abandon the ship. I left the plate 
unfinished to attend to other and more urgent duties, and 
while on the ice handed my old watch to Walter Lee. I 
was about to throw it away, but he said, " Give it to 



394 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

me, Chief, and I will carry it. If we ever get back to 
the United States I will return it to you." 

So we started on the long march across the frozen sea. 
Lee was not very sure-footed ; he had been shot through 
both hips during our civil war, and now kept tumbling 
into the water — and such water! — with almost inten- 
tional regularity. Of course the old single-cased watch 
came in for its share of the wettings, and at each one 
Lee would calmly empty it of the salt sea wave. And 
still it continued to keep time ; albeit the rusting of its 
iron and steel parts soon streaked and stained the golden 
face, rim, and back, and made of it a mirth-provoking 
thing. 

Once while the entire party — men, dogs, boats, sleds, 
and equipment — were crossing an open lead on a great 
ice-raft, the rope on which we were hauling (it being 
fastened at both sides of the lead) parted with consider- 
able force, and one end struck Lee a smart blow on the 
ribs, stretching him out, and at the same time smashing 
the crystal of the watch. That evening Lee came to me 
and reported the damage, saying that both hands had 
also been detached or broken. I laughed and told him 
to throw the watch away, it was not worth carrying 
longer. But no, he said, it was a great pleasure to the 
men to be told the time of day ; and so Sweetman, the 
carpenter, made a pair of wooden cases for it, like a pair 
of clam-shells, and Lee with his sheath-knife cut a tin 
hand and drove it down on the hour spindle, and all was 
well again. By this arrangement, when the tin hand 
pointed at twelve it was either noon or midnight ; when 
a quarter of the way between twelve and one, it was a 
quarter past twelve ; half way, half-past, and so on ; for 
a minute hand is a frivolous luxury in the Arctic Circle. 

And so the old watch ticked on through many a duck- 
ing, since it seemed that Lee was amphibious, going 
overboard as if " to the manner born." But at length the 



THROUGH SIBERIA. 395 

time arrived when we were all told off to the boats, Lee 
seeking his fate in the first cutter, and as there was no 
watch in the whale-boat I was glad to come in possession 
of my own again, and placed it under the care of Mr. 
Danenhower, for it would have been very inconvenient 
for me to attend to it while holding the sheet and sailing 
the boat with my cracked and swollen hands. One day 
I noticed Danenhower winding the watch several times. 
I inquired the trouble, and he said he could not under- 
stand it; that he might keep turning the key all day 
without fully winding it up, and yet the watch ticked 
on. In short, the mainspring was not broken, but had 
partially slipped on its spindle, still retaining enough 
power to propel the works for about four hours. So it 
was wound every third hour until we reached Jama- 
veloch, when we hung it up in the hut for our common 
benefit, and then some one must needs step upon and 
mash the wooden cases. 

When I arrived at Verkeransk one of the political 
exiles, the " Little Blacksmith," soldered a brass plate in 
the crystal rim, and as he had no watch-hand the old tin 
one of Lee's make continued to do duty, and the old 
watch still ran on. In Yakutsk Bartlett came upon a 
watchmaker who tampered with it, and was pleased to 
ask if I wished a second-hand put on. I did not ; hours 
and minutes subdivided Siberian time quite finely enough 
for me ; but on our journey to the Delta I discovered 
that the faithful old ticker did not tick as well as it did 
before the exile had it to repair, and upon opening the 
case I found that one of the jewels was gone. The little 
rogue had stolen the stone and replaced it with a piece 
of brass on which the friction was so great that thence- 
forth I had to ease or compress one of the screws in order 
to regulate the running of the watch. 

And now at Irkutsk the old gentleman watchmaker 
informed me that the second-hand movement had been 



396 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

purloined by his fellow-laborer in Yakutsk, who doubt- 
less had as good use for it as had the young exile for my 
jewel, and I at once understood why he was so particular 
in inquiring if I would have the second-hand renewed. 
However, I paid Mr. Jurgensen nine roubles for the 
kindly interest he displayed in its welfare ; but although 
it had been able to withstand the rigors of Arctic travel, 
its undermined strength succumbed to the treatment of 
the Siberian artisan, and I despaired of its future use- 
fulness. 

Finally, arriving at Philadelphia, I laid it away as a 
relic, but a certain sympathetic friend decided that it 
should be cleaned and put in order once again. Now it 
is fair to look upon ; the rust stains have departed its 
poor old face ; and as I write these words in the ward- 
room of the steamer Thetis, it is at sea once more, bound 
on another Arctic voyage, and within its case I have just 
discovered the inscription, " Tobias, No. 121305; Liver- 
pool." What, I would like to know, has been the fate of 
121304? or of 121306? And I wonder if old Tobias 
himself has worn as well as his watch ; and I sincerely 
trust, at least, that his inside works have not been so 
ruthlessly doctored or deranged. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
HOMEWARD BOUND. 

Governor Anutchin. — On to Tomsk. — A Current Ferry-Boat. — 
Agricultural Settlements. — Rascally Stancia-Keepers and Yam- 
shicks. — Their Methods. — Exiles in Droves. — At Tomsk. — The 
" Hotel Million." — Attentive Mr. Hildenberger. — On the River 
Obi. — Tobolsk. — Tuamen. — Floating Jails. — Ekaterinborg. — 
Perm. — Nijni Novgorod and the Great Bazaar. — Moscow. — St. 
Petersburg. — Our Reception. — A Day at Peterhof. — Home. 

General Anutchin, Governor -General of Irkutsk, 
was absent on a yisit to St. Petersburg, but he was daily 
expected to return, and when he did, a general holiday 
was proclaimed, the entire populace turned out to wel- 
come him, and there was a fine display of fireworks in 
the evening. Lieutenant Berry and myself called upon 
him, and also paid our respects to his wife and daughter. 
The following day one of his aids visited us, and ar- 
ranged for a dinner at the gubernatorial mansion, at 
which there were present Berry, Jackson, Larsen, Gil- 
der, and myself. The governor and his daughter spoke 
excellent English, the latter being dressed at dinner in 
the national costume — a short- waisted and short-skirted 
gown of white linen, embroidered and inserted with blue 
and red ; her head crowned with a gilt tiara, and her 
hair flowing loosely down her back. She was very beau- 
tiful, and looked every inch a queen. 

As soon as possible, I prevailed upon the governor to 
assist me in securing a quick and safe passage through 
his territory towards Russia. He provided me with an 



398 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

open letter and a doubly-stamped road passport that di- 
rected all of his minions to give me the right of way on 
the post-road, saving only the mails, which was a loop- 
hole quite large enough to permit any rascally road-mas- 
ter to withhold his horses for a valuable consideration. 

Lieutenant Berry and myself, traveling together, pur- 
chased a tarantass for our own use, and hired those at 
the stancias for the accommodation of the two men who 
still remained with me. I also hired a tallega to convey 
our baggage and the two boxes of relics, and purchased 
mattresses and leather pillows for the bottoms of our 
wagons ; for we slept in them, riding night and day, and 
only halting at the stations long enough to change our 
horses and make an occasional meal of tea, milk, boiled 
eggs, or such other simple food as we could buy. 

Here at Irkutsk I paid off and parted from my faith- 
ful interpreter and companion, Captain Joachim Gron- 
beck, who accepted an appointment under Alexander Si- 
lenikoff to explore the rapids of the Yenisei River from 
Irkutsk to the Arctic Ocean ; thence to find and blaze a 
road from the Yenisei to Archangel ; and thence to pro- 
ceed to Sweden, his native land. 

On July 14th, wishing our numerous pleasant acquain- 
tances in Irkutsk farewell, we set forth on a 1,500 verst 
(1,000 mile) wagon ride to Tomsk. The first river to 
the westward is the Yenisei, which we crossed on a cur- 
rent ferry-boat, capable of holding six teams and one 
hundred passengers, moored up-stream by an anchor and 
grass hawser. This hawser was five hundred yards in 
length, and its weight was carried on a series of eight 
or ten small flat-boats or scows. A large square frame 
was raised about the centre of the boat, extending its 
whole beam, and perhaps one third of its length, and the 
hawser traversed the forward part of this frame-work, 
which was greased to facilitate slipping. With every- 
thing in order for a start, a man on the upper platform 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 399 

above the passengers' heads began walking with a huge 
tiller, and the boat moved slowly out into the stream. 
Presently the hawser slipped over the forward end of the 
frame-work, and then the boat shot rapidly across the 
river, and it became necessary to exercise considerable 
care and attention, as we approached the opposite shore, 
to prevent a too sudden landing alongside of the tempo- 
rary pier and staging. We were thus ferried over many 
rivers of all sizes, between Irkutsk and Tomsk. 

The country through which we passed was exceedingly 
beautiful, — rolling, well- watered, and wooded. Splendid 
crops of rye and some wheat and oats gave the land- 
scape a cultivated look, and everywhere there was an 
abundance of cattle and horses. The villages along the 
road were not far apart, and contained as many as one 
thousand inhabitants. They are all agricultural settle- 
ments conducted upon a partial commune system, under 
the governing rules of which each member must take a 
section of the soil, till it, and pay its taxes, and no person 
can hold the same tract two years in succession without 
paying for the privilege. It is very strange, at first, to 
see a hundred acres of land planted in fifty long distinct 
strips of rye, oats, or wheat, by as many husbandmen, 
each one of whom the following season or year may rent 
and plant a different strip. The cattle are grazed in a 
body or herd by an attendant, who keeps them away 
from the crops and watches the gate to the village. 
Sheep are plentiful, but swine by no means as numerous 
as I had expected they would be in a country whose peo- 
ple are so fond of pork. 

The distance between relays is from sixteen to thirty 
versts, and the speed of fresh horses is about ten versts 
an hour. But then the changing operation at the sta- 
tions consumes anywhere from forty minutes to two 
hours, according to the temper and trickishness of the 
station-master and grooms, for they are beyond doubt 



400 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

the meanest lot of beggars and knaves on the face of the 
earth. The station-master can never change bills for the 
traveler, and so he secures the odd kopecks ; but he did 
not rob me of mine, for I armed myself with a bagful of 
fractional silver and copper currency, greatly to his dis- 
gust. If you are in a hurry, he has no horses ; but, as I 
have stated before, the dishonest fellow can always in- 
duce "Ivan," his fictitious friend, to supply you with 
plenty if you are fool enough to rent them at two or 
three prices. Then, too, the drivers openly pass the word 
along from station to station : — 

" These people pay twenty kopecks gratuity to their 
yamshicks if they are driven rapidly." Or , — " Fifteen 
kopecks are all they pay ; they are in no hurry. Their 
wagon was greased at four o'clock this morning ; make 
them grease it again and get your money. They are 
Americans, and don't drink tea or want the samovar ; 
but if you make good time you will get twenty ko- 
pecks ! " 

Consequently a ten-kopeck gratuity means a walk for 
the horses; and five kopecks, a succession of long rests 
while the yamshicks smoke and curse. 

We passed many exiles, men, women, and children, in 
companies of from two to five hundred, marching wea- 
rily towards far Siberia. They were mostly of the crim- 
inal classes, all their heads being half or clean-shaven. 
A majority of the men were in chains, and many were 
linked together. Not a few of the women marched 
among the men as prisoners, while the rest trudged on 
into voluntary exile, holding the hands of their husbands, 
brothers, lovers, or children. Many of the sick, aged, 
and young were in wagons, but all the others toiled 
along the dusty road like droves of cattle, under the 
vigilance of a guard of from ten to a dozen Cossacks, 
mounted or on foot, and in charge of an officer usually 
taking his ease in a carriage. These were distressing 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 401 

sights. Once we met a family of Jews, husband, wife, 
and two children, in a wagon, with a soldier, his gun 
and bayonet fixed, riding alongside ; and we stopped to 
change horses with the party, as we were then about 
midway between stations. The father, a bright, intelli- 
gent fellow, addressed us in German, and said he had 
been wealthy and was exiled to the Yenisei country sim- 
ply because he was a Jew. His eyes brightened with 
delight when he heard that we were Americans, and the 
next instant clouded with regret at the bitter conscious- 
ness of his captivity. Four thousand of his townsmen, 
he said, had emigrated to America, and then pointing to 
his wife and two pretty children, the tears rolled down 
his cheeks as he faltered out, — " Siberie." Poor fellow, 
that word has all the import of a hell to many, many 
more than him. We should have reached Tomsk before 
noon, but at next to the last station from it there were 
no horses, and I paid double rates (five roubles for fifteen 
versts) in the hope of procuring horses at regular rates at 
the last station ; for there is generally a good supply of 
them near the large settlements. But the wretches of yam- 
shicks sent word ahead that we were in a hurry, and as a 
matter of course the station-master announced a dearth 
of horses. Then his accomplices asked ten roubles for 
twenty-nine versts, or an advance of about 3.6 times 
upon the usual rates. I offered double fare (8 r. 20 k.), 
but they would not accept, feeling confident that I must 
finally accede to their exorbitant demands. So I sat 
down, risking the chance of losing our steamer, which 
was advertised to sail the following day ; and I calmly 
waited until the post-horses came in and had their hour's 
rest. The yamshicks who had refused to carry us for 
eight roubles and twenty kopecks then suggested that 
they would accommodate us for six roubles, but I was 
deaf to their blarney, for I had beaten them at last, 
though at a loss of three hours. 

26 



402 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

At Tomsk we patronized the " Hotel Million Siberie," 
which internally was the most horrible building I have 
ever been in. Its corridors were long and dark, and its 
square cell-like doors so low that I had to stoop to enter 
them, and on the outside their appearance was rendered 
the more forbidding by large black iron padlocks and 
hasps. The proprietor wandered along with an enormous 
bunch of keys, opening the doors and exhibiting his 
apartments, and at first I actually believed that the yam- 
shick had misunderstood my order and taken us to visit a 
Siberian prison, instead of conducting us to a hotel. Up- 
stairs, however, the rooms were much better. Each one 
was furnished with a bedstead, two chairs, and a chest of 
drawers, but there were no washing arrangements what- 
ever, or mattresses or bedding ; for every traveler in 
Siberia is expected to carry his own pillows and bed- 
clothes. Here we put up, at any rate, dining at the res- 
taurant, which perhaps was even more repulsive than the 
rooms. 

We called at the telegraph station, and found four tel- 
egrams awaiting us, two for Berry and two for myself. 
Shortly afterwards a Mr. Hildenberger, who was in the 
employ of the telegraph company as English interpreter, 
called upon us and proffered his services. He had been 
a prisoner of war at the Crimea, and had been sent to 
England, where some charitable ladies and gentlemen in- 
terested themselves in his behalf, taught him English, 
and converted him to the Episcopal faith. He then re- 
turned to Russia as a missionary, but is more proficient 
in his natural character of a remorseless rogue. We 
foolishly gave him our tarantass to sell for us. It cost 
one hundred and seventy roubles, and we could readily 
have sold it ; but he persuaded us to leave it with him to 
dispose of, which I have no doubt he did, though we have 
never since heard of him or it. Mr. Larsen, of the other 
party, overtook us at Tomsk, and learning into whose 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 403 

hands we had fallen warned us of our danger, but too 
late ; we had lost our tarantass. 

The Governor of Tomsk received us very kindly, ex- 
tending every civility, and he invited us to visit the Uni- 
versity, which is the pride of the place. We also paid 
our devoirs to the mayor of the city, a fat and jolly old 
merchant, who treated us handsomely, and repeatedly 
expressed his regrets that we were to leave his town so 
soon. In the afternoon we were visited by a couple of 
gentlemen who spoke English: a Mr. Kuhn, of German 
extraction, and Mr. De Norpe, a mining engineer and 
geologist in the employ of the state. He was very clever 
and well-informed, knowing his geology by heart, and 
had somewhere met Professor Dana, to whom he sent 
many kindly messages. 

Paying our bills at the " Hotel Million " we repaired 
for supper to the " Hotel Europe," and found the table 
garnished in true Siberian style with a single beefsteak 
— simply this and nothing more. Boarding the steamer 
then about midnight, we sought our bunks amid a 
frightful din, for the other passengers were just assault- 
ing their evening meal. Next morning, the 27th of July, 
we paddled away on the river Obi. The steamer was 
quite roomy for this region, and laden with people jour- 
neying to the annual fair at Nijni Novgorod. Their 
habits, especially at table, were very disgusting, which 
was the more unfortunate, inasmuch as the cuisine and 
service were capital, meals being served d la carte. All 
the Russian passengers were plainly out on a protracted 
lark. They drank and played cards incessantly, and 
there was quite an array of gamblers on board, who 
fleeced the excursionists without mercy. We had scarcely 
gotten under way when I, too, discovered the loss of fifty 
dollars in small silver money, of which I had doubtless 
been relieved at the "Hotel Million." 

We arrived at the ancient Cossack town of Tobolsk at 



404 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

midnight of July 31st. It is one of the oldest fortified 
cities in the empire, and way back in the history of the 
czars was taken and retaken again and again by Cossack 
and Tartar. Long ramps and avenues lead up to the 
antiquated fortifications, which, pitched upon the hill- 
tops, frown down upon the modern settlement, and look 
for all the world like old Moorish towers and forts. The 
town was ablaze with light when we drew up at the 
landing, and venders of fruits and confections thronged 
the main thoroughfare leading to the steamer. We en- 
joyed a carriage ride by moonlight, which enhanced the 
singular charms of the quaint old place, and I was sorry 
to leave it so soon. 

Continuing up the Obi until its waters shoaled too 
rapidly for our large steamer, we were transferred to a 
very small boat, on which each person appeared to under- 
stand that no one else had rights that he was bound to 
respect ; and, although first-class cabin passengers, we 
were hoisted on board and simply directed to take care 
of ourselves — an admonition that we proceeded to obey, 
but with indifferent success. 

We arrived at Tuamen before midnight of August 2d, 
and being unable to secure hotel accommodations drove 
directly to the coach-station, and from there launched 
forth on a journey of 450 versts to Ekaterinborg, the 
next town. Here at Tuamen I obtained a closer view of 
the double-decked barges, great numbers of which we 
had seen being towed in the wake of steamers by means 
of long hawsers. They are built in modern shape, with 
overhanging guards supported by struts like the guards 
of our side- wheel steamers, and are from two hundred 
and fifty to three hundred feet long, with two decks and 
a lower hold ; and along two thirds of the barge's length 
there is an iron cage reaching from the lower to the 
upper deck-cover, and having the appearance of a great 
two story tiger's cage. A passage-way surrounds it on 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 405 

the lower deck, but none is necessary above. In these 
enormous floating jails are transported the thousands of 
exiles en route to Siberia. Each deck, I should suppose, 
is capable of accommodating from two hundred and fifty 
to three hundred and fifty persons ; or the capacity of 
each barge is from five to seven hundred. And I saw 
ten such in use, four of them crowded with prisoners. 
We met three exiles, one young lady and two young 
men, who had been released and were homeward bound 
from far Siberia. One of them spoke English fairly 
well, but was rather reticent. 

At Tuamen we were most agreeably entertained by an 
American dentist, Dr. Ledyard, of San Francisco, and 
wife ; and received a pleasant call from a Mr. Waldraper, 
one of three brothers forming a steamboat construc- 
tion company. He was a young Scotchman plying his 
Clyde-gained knowledge on the Obi ; sharp as a Yankee, 
and equally full of aggressive energy and ambition. He 
talked of going east as far as the Yenisei, and had many 
pertinent questions to ask concerning the navigation of 
the Lena. 

We were three days, of twenty -four hours each, in 
making the journey from Tuamen to Ekaterinborg, 
where we arrived on the morning of August 5th, and 
established ourselves at the " Hotel Europeanski," a very 
creditable inn considering the country. The city was 
founded by Catherine of Russia, after whom it is named, 
and some portions of it, notably the Public Gardens, are 
quite attractive. We dined with Dr. Ledyard, and then 
left by rail for Perm, crossing the Ural Mountains into 
Europe ; for here is the beginning or rather terminus of 
railroading, although there is a gap of several hundred 
miles in the line between Perm and Nijni Novgorod, 
which distance is covered by steamboat. At the rail- 
road station, the first thing that claimed my attention, 
outside of the usual bustle, was another collection of 



406 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

double-decked cages for the transportation of exiles, for 
it is part of the business of the railroad to furnish a 
sufficient number of properly constructed cars for this 
purpose. We felt, indeed, at sound of the familiar toot 
and snort of the iron horse that we were at last crossing 
the confines of civilization, for surely no one like the 
American can appreciate the wonderful benefits con- 
ferred upon mankind by the swift " smoke-wagon," that 
annihilator of distance and prime agent in the manifold 
glory of our times. 

We reached Perm August 9th and boarded the steamer 
without delay. It was larger, and far more comfortable 
in every respect, than any we had as yet seen, for, true 
to the law of progress, everything was materially improv- 
ing as we journeyed westward. The river-front at Perm 
was filled with steamers, and the double-decked barges, 
no longer a novelty to us, were transferring their captives 
to the double-decked cars. Poor wretches ! they looked 
so like wild animals, back of their iron bars. 

We were now on a branch of the mighty river Volga, 
and in a few days would reach its forks, where is built 
Nijni Novgorod, the " New City." The site of the an- 
cient town, whose foundation dates back into the thir- 
teenth century, is about eight miles below. There plies 
on the Volga a fraudulently -called American line of 
steamboats, with such names as Washington, Wisconsin, 
etc., for even here America has the well-deserved repu- 
tation of possessing the finest steamboats in the world ; 
and I am confident that if a number of our river boats, 
so superior to all others in speed and comfort, were 
placed upon the Volga, they would at once absorb all of 
the trade, for the Russian is fond of good things and in 
nowise averse to paying for them. 

We arrived at Nijni Novgorod about twelve o'clock 
in the night of August 12th, and went to the Hotel 
Europe. On the morrow and the day after we visited 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 407 

the wonderful bazaar which has made this place so fa- 
mous. 

Here can be seen the representatives of all peoples ; 
and every marketable article seemed present in profu- 
sion. There were furs from the vast districts of North- 
eastern Siberia, and furs from Northwestern America ; 
rugs from Persia ; ostrich feathers from Africa ; tea and 
carved ivory from China ; diamonds from Brazil ; cut- 
lery from England and Germany, and some very excel- 
lent samples from the United States. The bazaar is 
held on a point of land between the forks of the river, 
and is joined to the city by a well-built pontoon-bridge. 
The grounds are constantly crowded, and a perfect babel 
of tongues prevails. The good-natured merchant, who 
talks a composite language, calls loudly to the passers- 
by, exhibiting his goods, and if he fails to make himself 
understood he shouts out " roubles," and states his price 
either by numerals or his abacus. That is, the price 
he asks; what his selling price might be, Heaven only 
knows, for I am sure the merchant himself does not ; at 
any rate not before the end of the season, when articles 
are often sold to the highest bidders. 

Among the attractions at Nijni was the American 
lion-tamer, Colonel Boone, with his cages full of wild 
beasts, and it was evident that the admiring natives re- 
garded the colonel himself as the greatest lion in his 
collection. We visited and dined with a Mr. Dunbar, 
formerly of Pittsburg, Pa., who had come to Nijni and 
built a very creditable stern-wheel steamboat, modeled 
upon those in use on the Ohio and Monongahela rivers. 
She was apparently a favorite with the people, but lacked 
speed, as essential a quality in the eye of the Russian 
as in that of the restless American. I have never 
learned the result of Mr. Dunbar's venture, but I am 
persuaded that for the navigation of the large Siberian 
rivers there is needed a suitable number of light-draught 



408 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

stern- wheel boats. In summer the water is low, the 
river-beds being so wide that the water of necessity 
must be shallow, albeit the channels are not so capacious 
that they can control the fury of the spring floods. 

It was a very pleasing and instructive time I spent at 
Nijni Novgorod and the bazaar. Often in boyhood had 
I gazed at my school atlas, struggling to pronounce it 
and the other impossible names, and wondered in my 
dreams if I would ever see Nijni or Moscow. I had 
now seen the one and in twelve hours would see the 
other. 

Nijni Novgorod is the eastern terminus of this rail- 
road line through the empire of Russia, and when the 
short section between it and Perm is built there will be 
an all-rail communication from Ekaterinborg, just within 
the boundary of Siberia, to the rest of the continental 
railroads centring in St. Petersburg, Berlin, Paris, Vi- 
enna, and Rome ; and what a vast combination there will 
be upon the completion of the proposed English roads to 
farther India and Afghanistan ! 

"We entered Moscow on the 15th of August, and were 
met at the depot by the American consul, who gave us 
a hearty reception and conducted us in carriages to the 
Hotel Dessaux. Many persons of note called upon us, 
and our indefatigable consul kindly drove us to different 
points of interest in the city. 

The following day we " did " the Kremlin, the great 
bells, and, by special permission, the new cathedral, whose 
interior decoration is superb. Among other curiosities 
I saw in Moscow was a jet black female native of De- 
merara, driving around in a gorgeous open barouche, 
with all the airs of an old-time Russian princess. 

On the evening of the 17th, we left Moscow for St. 
Petersburg, and were greeted at the railroad station by 
Colonel Wickham Hoffman, United States charge d'af- 
faires, and quite a delegation of Americans. Driving to 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 409 

the Hotel Europe we rested for a while, and then called 
upon Minister Hunt, at the quarters of the United States 
Legation. He had received his appointment but a short 
time before, having previously occupied the office of Sec- 
retary of the Navy. Now he had prepared for us a cap- 
ital cold collation, and all the distinguished American 
residents of St. Petersburg were present, and truly a 
heartier welcome was never accorded a band of ship- 
wrecked mariners. The old and young, rich and poor, of 
our countrymen flocked around, and generously, warmly 
congratulated us on what they seemed to feel was a res- 
urrection from worse than death. 

Driving along the Neva we saw the bridges which 
span that majestic stream, and the fortress of Peter and 
Paul (Petropavlosk), the cold citadel which has wit- 
nessed a world of misery and crime. From the river we 
were afforded a splendid view of the city ; and at night 
we visited the great summer garden and saw the popu- 
lace. The grounds are magnificent, and at certain sea- 
sons of the year are thrown open by royal command 
for the enjoyment of the people. Here, as in Moscow, 
the military largely predominated ; uniforms were every- 
where, and a military band played martial music, and 
the grand march in honor of Skobeleff, the dead and 
favorite Russian general, which was encored again and 
again. 

The morrow we devoted to sight-seeing at the Her- 
mitage, gazing upon the relics of Peter the Great, so 
often described by tourists ; his staff, tools, arm-chair, 
and the rod that measured his height ; and here, too, are 
the celebrated marbles, jewels, and beautiful art-galleries. 
But I most admired the colossal nudes in black marble 
which support the portico over the entrance to the Her- 
mitage. They are very striking in their massive propor- 
tions, and look like so many living giants bearing stur- 
dily up with straightened limbs under the heavy stone 



410 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

entablature which rests upon their black and brawny- 
shoulders. A trip to the Cathedral of St. Isaac's, the 
grandeur of whose interior surpassed my expectations, 
and we then repaired to the palace of the Emperor 
Paul, wherein the late Czar Alexander II. ate his last 
breakfast ; and finally we visited the spot where he was 
killed, and the temporary shrine erected over it, which, 
we were told, was shortly to be replaced by a chapel. 
That evening (August 20th) Minister Hunt and lady 
entertained us at dinner. 

During the day we had been waited upon by an aid, 
a colonel of engineers, who delivered invitations to my- 
self and two seamen of the Jeannette and Lieutenant 
Berry of the Rodgers to be presented to their majesties 
the Czar and Czarina, at Peterhof, an imperial summer 
residence about sixteen miles out of the city. An usher 
in civilian clothes next made his appearance, and directed 
us how to proceed. Our dress, if not uniform, should be 
full evening dress, with white ties ; the carriages at St. 
Petersburg were to be of our own providing ; but a spe- 
cial car on the train leaving at eleven A. M. would be 
placed at our disposal, and the royal carriages would 
await us at Peterhof. 

Promptly at the appointed time we were at the depot, 
where our usher met and conducted us to the proper rail- 
way coach. Minister Hunt was to be presented at court 
the same day, but he was under a different escort. We 
were soon whirled to Peterhof, and alighted from the 
train in company with a numerous party of officers, di- 
plomats, and court officials, all under separate and appro- 
priate guards. Here we were shown into an open ba- 
rouche bearing the imperial arms, and attended by coach- 
men in gold -laced liveries, with cocked hats, cutaway 
coats, and buff waistcoats, and were driven to the royal 
gardens and dormitories, where there was a series of with- 
drawing rooms with small breakfast rooms attached. We 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 411 

were first seated in one of these, and presently an officer 
in uniform followed by an amanuensis entered, and po- 
litely saluting us in English opened a running conversa- 
tion, which continued for a few minutes, when the aman- 
uensis wrote upon large and separate sheets of paper the 
name, rank, and nativity of each of our party. Both then 
withdrew. 

The next formality was decidedly less irksome. We 
were conducted into the breakfast room and regaled with 
a light repast, which included tea, coffee, and wine ; cog- 
nac, pousse-caf % and liqueurs ; cigarettes and cigars. In 
a little while another officer, in uniform and under arms, 
greeted us and requested that we follow him. Entering 
a carriage we were driven to the audience chamber and 
ushered into a large ante-room hung with portraits of the 
royal family, battle scenes, etc. Here there was a bril- 
liant gathering of officers and functionaries of high rank, 
generals, admirals, ministers, and diplomats, all in gor- 
geous uniform, and glittering with stars and decorations, 
humbly awaiting their turn for a brief chance at the im- 
perial ear. Our conductor proclaimed to the assemblage 
who we were, and for a moment every eye was curiously 
riveted upon us, and some of the Russian officials came 
forward and spoke to us. At the same time our names 
were announced to the Czar. Minister Hunt had pre- 
ceded us, and our attendant now said that we would be 
next received by the Czar in the reception room, after 
which we would be presented to the Czarina in an ante- 
room. 

As soon, then, as Minister Hunt had departed we were 
conducted to a door opening into a passage-way which 
led directly to the audience chamber. This door was 
thrown open by an usher, who called out our names and 
vanished. We advanced a few paces two abreast, and 
as we did so, Czar Alexander III., Emperor of all the 
Russias, crossed the room with outstretched hands and 
greeted us, saying in English, — 



412 IN THE LENA DELTA. 

" Good morning, gentlemen. These are Messrs. Mel- 
ville and Berry ; which is Mr. Melville? " 

I set him aright by introducing the others, and Lieu- 
tenant Berry performed the same service for me. 

" Pr£f e"rez vous parler en Francais ou en Anglais, mon- 
sieur ? " the Czar inquired. 

I assured him that English being my native tongue 
I preferred to speak it. At this juncture the Czarina 
approached and graciously greeted us, appearing quite 
solicitous about our health, and asking many questions 
in regard to our sufferings. She carefully and with a 
kindly show of interest examined my hands and fingers, 
which still bore the marks of their old sores. 

We then began a cross-fire of conversation, each of the 
royal pair conversing at times with one or another of our 
party. Finally the Czar expressed his regret that any of 
us should have come to grief on his territory, however 
remote ; and " I trust," said he, " that it was the rigor of 
our climate alone, and not the coldness of heart of any 
of my people, which caused the death of your comrades." 

The Czarina commended our fortitude and courage, 
which, she said, were peculiarities of the American char- 
acter ; " But I hope," she remarked, " that you will riot 
again tempt fortune in the frozen North." 

Speaking of our own land she observed, with a gentle 
sorrow in her tone, " I had hoped in my youth to visit 
America, but now, I fear, it can never be." 

There coming a lull at length in our talk, we shook 
hands a second time, and with mutual farewells and my 
honest wish that the imperial couple might be blessed 
with " future peace and happiness," our audience was 
ended. It had lasted twenty minutes. 

We passed out without the usher's aid into the ante- 
room, where the crowd of visitors was fast swelling. Our 
official conductor escorted us in a carriage back to the 
breakfast room, where he delivered us over to the tender 



HOMEWARD BOUND. 413 

mercies of the civilian usher; tender, since there was here 
spread out for our edification a delicious breakfast, whose 
tempting viands we had not the least inclination to slight. 
We were then driven for several hours through the grand 
gardens full of lakes and artificial cascades pouring, one 
over a silver, and another over a gold-plated wall of 
rock, and called the " Silver Falls," and " Golden Falls." 
There were fountains casting spray in every part of the 
grounds ; curiously and beautifully trained plants ; fish 
in ponds, which came at the sound of a bell to be fed ; 
geese, swans, and other water-fowl — all forming the most 
magnificent artificial park I have ever seen. 

We returned to St. Petersburg by boat, obtaining a 
fine view of the great work, then in progress, of making 
a harbor at Cronstadt, whose shipping was barely visible 
in the distance. Reaching the city towards dusk, we ar- 
ranged at once to leave for Liverpool via Berlin and 
Paris. At each of these points we rested for a few days, 
receiving kindly tokens of interest on every hand ; and 
finally setting sail from Liverpool on the steamer Parthia 
we arrived at New York on the 13th of September, 1882, 
— three years and six months from the time I left the 
Atlantic sea-board to join at San Francisco the luckless 
Jeannette ; and one year from the day when our three 
boats were separated in that fatal gale. 



THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 



CHAPTER L 

NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 

Failure of the Neptune, Proteus, and Yantic to Relieve Greely. — 
My Proposal. — The Plan and Fitting Out of the Expedition. — 
St. John's. — Disco Island. 

[The celerity with which the Greely Relief Expedition ac- 
complished its noble mission surprised the world. As I have 
elsewhere stated, when Chief Engineer Melville set sail from 
New York on the Thetis, he was still engaged on the final 
chapters of this work, which we imagined would be in print 
some time before that cruise was ended. However, he has re- 
turned in time to annex the following account of his last Arctic 
voyage, which, it is thought, forms an appropriate epilogue to 
the tragic tale of the Jeannette. — Ed.] 

I only propose for myself a brief outline of the object 
and results of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, for 
the simple reason that the brave commander himself, 
Lieutenant A. W. Greely, U. S. A., who still survives 
in full vigor of mind and body, will be the best historian 
of his own and the adventures of his heroic followers. 

And I here desire to say parenthetically that there is 
no one living competent to criticise Lieutenant Greely 's 
conduct of the Expedition, beyond affirming that he per- 
formed the greatest amount of scientific work possible at 
the least expense, and made good his retreat from depot 



NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 415 

to depot, until he arrived at the point of safety where 
our government had promised to deposit supplies and 
have a vessel awaiting to carry him and his band away 
from the " Land of Desolation." How bountifully the 
government furnished the means for the execution of its 
promise, and contrariwise, how strangely, if not crimi- 
nally, the government's efforts were thwarted by careless- 
ness, incompetency, or inexperience, the reader knows 
too well to warrant further comment here. 

In August of 1881, Lieutenant Greely's command was 
conveyed to Lady Franklin Bay by the steam-whaler 
Proteus, for the purpose of establishing one of the two 1 
metereological stations to be fitted out and maintained 
by the United States Government, under the charge of 
the Signal Service, in accordance with the agreement 
of the international meteorological congress. America, 
with commendable zeal, dispatched her observers to the 
most northern point attainable with safety and readily 
accessible to support and relief. I assert this deliber- 
ately, notwithstanding the sad fate that overtook a por- 
tion of Greely's party ; for he executed his duty with all 
honor, and can in no way be held responsible for the 
terrible disaster that resulted exclusively from the mis- 
carriage of the promised relief. 

The unsuccessful attempt of the Neptune to reach 
Fort Conger or Lady Franklin Bay in 1882, and the re- 
turn of that vessel to the United States with all her sup- 
plies on board, which should have been cached as near 
Fort Conger as possible, — particularly at Norman Lock- 
yer Island, the highest point attained by the Neptune, 
at Cape Albert, Cape Sabine, the death camp of Greely's 
command, or at Littleton Island, where Greely requested 

1 The other American station, under command of Lieutenant 
Ray, U. S. A., was established at Point Barrow, north of Behring 
Strait, and the European powers were to station their observers at 
optional points within the Arctic Circle. 



416 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

the depot of supplies to be made, — was followed in 1883 
by the double failure of the Proteus and the U. S. 
steamer Yantic to leave provisions at Cape Sabine and 
Littleton Island. In other words, these three vessels 
succeeded in transporting to and beyond the point of 
disaster sufficient supplies of food to last the Greely 
party two years or more — and yet, singular to say, either 
sunk this food in the sea, or brought it back to the 
United States. 

But here it may be asked, — Of what avail would pro- 
visions deposited at Littleton Island have been to Greely 
encamped across the Sound, at Cape Sabine? I can con- 
fidently reply, — It would have been the salvation of the 
whole band. Not a single man need have starved to 
death ; for if Greely had known that an abundance of 
food awaited him at Littleton Island, he would certainly 
have made greater efforts to cross the channel, and in all 
probability would have met with success, even in the one 
boat which remained to him. Or ten men of his party 
might thus have escaped, and the other fifteen at Cape 
Sabine could then have subsisted on that amount of food 
which proved so sadly insufficient for twenty-five. As 
it was, however, he might just as well have starved at 
Cape Sabine as at Littleton Island, where there was a 
cache of only 240 rations — nine days' supply for twenty- 
five men ! Still there are reasons why his chances would 
have been much better at Littleton Island ; chiefly be- 
cause there is game the year round all along the coast 
from Cape York, scarce, it is true, in winter time, but 
quite plentiful in early spring. Moreover, natives are 
well known to be settled at Life-Boat Cove, Littleton 
Island (not permanently), Port Foulke, Cape Parry, 
Saunders Island, North Star Bay, and Cape York, and 
from them Greely and his party would surely have re- 
ceived aid, and with their superior weapons could have 
returned valuable assistance in hunting. Had supplies 



NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 417 

been left at Littleton Island by any of the ships men- 
tioned, Lieutenant Garlington and his men could have 
remained there after the loss of the Proteus, and, as 
Greely directed, have "kept their glasses bearing on 
Cape Sabine for his retreating column." Cape Sabine 
and Littleton Island were unquestionably the key to the 
situation, and had either been properly provisioned there 
is no reason why any member of Greely's party should 
have perished. 

The futile attempt of the Proteus to reach Lady Frank- 
lin Bay, her destruction, and the return of Lieutenant 
Garlington, were generally regarded as a death-blow to 
all hope of forwarding succor to Greely, and the news 
flashing across the continent appalled many who fore- 
saw the terrible position in which the isolated little band 
would then be placed. It was too late in the season 
(September 12th) to fit out a new relief ship, yet one 
resource remained at that time, namely, to send a vessel 
at once from St. John's, N. F., to Cape Athol or Cape 
York, which, after landing a rescue party with supplies, 
tents, boats, and sledges, could return immediately be- 
fore the ice began to make too rapidly. This plan I 
embodied in a telegram to the Secretary of the Navy, 
September 14th ; following it up later on with a letter, 
wherein I said, — 

" Greely, without doubt, is now at Littleton Island, where 
he expected to find stores and other means of relief. The 
Yantic is at St. John's, N. F. Telegraph orders to Captain 
Wilde to put his guns and extra weights on shore ; reduce his 
officers and crew to a minimum for safety in working the ship ; 
fill the ship with coal and stores, all she can carry ; buy twelve 
first-class whale-boats with outfits ; put material on board ship 
for the manufacture of boat-sleds, and material for clothing, 
tents, and sleeping-bags. All these can be made up on the way 
to Cape York. If the ship can be got to the northward of 
Cape York, there will be no difficulty in communicating with 
27 



418 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

Greely this winter. Arrived at Cape York, or any point to 
the northward, land the stores and boats with a small party 
to guard them in addition to the party that is to advance to 
Greely's relief. If the ship can go beyond Cape York or Cape 
Athol, there are plenty of harbors to winter in. If not, work 
her well in shore and take the chances of wintering in the shore- 
ice, as far from the running pack as possible. ... If the ship 
stands the ice during the winter, and the ice moves out in the 
spring time and carries her to sea, the chances are yet good to 
drift out into the southerly pack. Should the ship be crushed, 
the whale-boats are at the command of her people to make 
good their retreat. 

"If landed at Cape York I will undertake to lead a party to 
Littleton Island to communicate with Greely, and if his men are 
able to travel, conduct them to the new base of supplies at Cape 
York, and encourage them to hold on. This is the point to 
which Buddington and party retreated after the loss of the 
Polaris, knowing they would sight the whale-ships about June 
1st. After this date there is no difficulty or hardship in making 
the way to the Danish settlements. It is during the fall and 
winter time that the great risk is run, and now is the time that 
Greely needs succor and encouragement." 

To this I received the following response by wire : — 
" Washington, D. C, Sept. 19, 1883. 
..." Careful consideration is being given to your letter of 
the seventeenth. 

"W. E. Chandler, 

" Sec'y of the Navy." 

But alas ! a board to whom the matter was referred 
adjudged my scheme an impracticable one for several 
reasons, mainly the lateness of the season, albeit whale- 
men have been known to cruise as far north as Cape 
York so late as October 20th. Thus my project for 
relief was not accepted, though the effort could certainly 
have been made without difficulty or danger, it being 
simply a question of seamanship. The ice was then 
scattered or entirely driven out of the bay and what 



NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 419 

little remains at that season of the year hugs the western 
shore from Lancaster Strait to Cape Chudleigh, and 
along the coast of Labrador. The autumn gales are ter- 
rific, it is true, and continuous, as I learned to my cost 
in the fall that I cruised with Captain James Greer in 
the Tigress, on the Polaris search. Then, however, the 
weather was not so severe or the season so far advanced 
as when the endeavor was made from Norway to rescue 
the Norwegian fishermen who had been cast on the west 
coast of Spitzbergen ; and in this instance, although the 
attempt was not crowned with success because of ice and 
storm, yet the effort was not relinquished until Decem- 
ber, and the relieving party did not return to Norway 
until January. 1 

I can now only express regret that my proposition was 
rejected, and I desire to further say that all I learned 
during the cruise of the Thetis simply confirmed my 
faith in the entire practicability of my plan of relief, — 
and then even though I had failed to reach the starving 
band, would not humanity have had the satisfaction, at 
least, of knowing that everything possible had been done, 
and defeat and disaster had only come when rescue was 
impossible ? 

During the winter of 1883-84 the country was aroused 
to the necessity of dispatching at the earliest possible 
moment a safe fleet of vessels to accomplish what the 
Neptune, Proteus, and Yantic had failed to do in 1882- 
83. Congress meanwhile quarreled over the appropria- 
tion and the manning of the ships, until the season was 
so far advanced that it would have been next to impos- 
sible to equip them in time to save the few survivors at 

1 The poor fishermen perished miserably. They were established 
in a comfortable house well stocked with provisions, which prin- 
cipally consisted, however, of salt fish; so scurvy set in and they all 
died. The attempt at rescue was none the less heroic, and reflects 
the highest honor on the hardy Norsemen. 



420 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

Camp Clay, who, it afterwards appeared, were slowly 
starving to death while Congress waxed warm with 
debate. But Secretary Chandler, with characteristic 
energy, realizing the necessity of immediate action, as- 
sumed the responsibility of purchasing for the govern- 
ment the ships Bear and Thetis, two of the best in the 
Scotch Arctic whaling fleet. These vessels he then had 
fitted for sea, with every appliance calculated to insure 
their safety and promote the comfort of the crews. Pro- 
visions and clothing were of the most approved quality 
and design, and the bureaux of the Navy Department 
vied with each other in their efforts to make the expedi- 
tion a complete success. How admirably the plans of 
Secretary Chandler have been executed, and how well 
the confidence reposed by him and the country in the 
commanding officer and the personnel of the fleet has 
been justified, it is needless for me to indicate. 

English courtesy, and the chivalry peculiar to that great 
nation, which has ever cherished the spirit of adventure, 
applauding and rewarding acts of heroism, and stretch- 
ing forth her strong hand to rescue those who risk their 
lives in quest of fame or in the interest of science, — a 
national policy that has done much to develop the won- 
derful strength of her army and navy, — exhibited itself 
on this occasion in a very graceful act. The Queen ten- 
dered, as a gift to our government for service in the 
search, the Alert, formerly the flag-ship of Captain George 
Nares, R. N., in the English Polar Expedition of 1874. 
This is the strongest wooden ship afloat. She did excel- 
lent service throughout the voyage mentioned, resisting 
tremendous strains and nips, and at one time was cast 
bodily out on the surface of the ice without suffering 
material damage. The British Government put her in 
perfect repair at their dock-yard, so that upon her arrival 
in New York only a few trivial changes were required, 
when she was stored with provisions for her own and the 



NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 421 

crews of the two advance ships, the Thetis and Bear. 
Meanwhile the iron transport steamer, Loch Garry, of 
Dundee, Scotland, had been chartered to carry 1,000 tons 
of the best Welsh coal as far as Littleton Island, our 
government becoming responsible for her damage or loss. 

The general plan of the expedition was for the Thetis 
and Bear to proceed as rapidly as possible toward Little- 
ton Island, where it was expected a record of the Greely 
party, if not the party itself, would be found. Indeed, 
it was the opinion of a majority of the officers of the 
fleet that we should come upon the party somewhere 
between Cape York and Littleton Island, and there, we 
subsequently learned, they certainly would have been 
had they been able to cross Smith Sound. The Alert 
and Loch Garry were to follow in our wake with all 
speed consistent with safety, and land a house, coal, and 
stores at Littleton Island ; the Loch Garry to depart as 
soon as she had deposited her cargo of coal, and the Alert 
to tarry as late in September as the state of the ice 
would permit. 

Aware of the house and depot of supplies at Littleton 
Island, the Thetis and Bear could push on boldly to- 
gether, if necessary, as far as Lady Franklin Bay, or 
until their progress was checked by an impenetrable bar- 
rier of ice, when the advance was to be made by sledge 
and boat to Fort Conger, or until definite information of 
Greely's command was obtained ; this advance party to 
be supported from the rear by the combined strength of 
the crews of the Thetis and Bear. The board convened 
by the War and Navy Departments to adopt ways and 
means of relief recommended the above general plan, 
and, to my thinking, it was a perfect one. The details, 
of course, were left to the discretion of the commander- 
in-chief, Commander W. S. Schley, U. S. N., whose effi- 
cient performance of his duty needs no praise from the 
pen of one of his subordinates. On one thing alone the 



422 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

Secretary of the Navy insisted, as advised by the board, 
namely, that the fleet should sail from New York not 
later than the 1st of May, 1884 ; and had we departed 
sixty, aye, ninety days before, we could not have reached 
Cape York, the turning-point of the North Water, one 
hour sooner. As it was, the Bear was dispatched on April 
20th to enable her to be in Baffin's Bay as early as any 
of the whale-ships. She came up with the foremost of 
the whalers at Disco, and thence advanced as far as the 
Browne Islands, when, observing the ice that made across 
Melville Bay as solidly as the unbroken continent of 
America, she returned in company with several of the 
whale-ships to Upernavik. The Thetis left New York 
and proceeded to sea on the day and hour appointed, 
May 1st, at 3.30 P. M. 

The following is a list of her officers : Commander 
W. S. Schley, Commanding ; Lieutenant Uriel Sebree, 
Executive Officer and Navigator ; Lieutenants Emory 
Taunt and S. C. Lemly ; Ensigns C. H. Harlow and 
W. J. Chambers (the latter for duty on board the Loch 
Garry, as government custodian) ; Chief Engineer G. 
W. Melville ; Surgeon E. H. Green ; and James W. Nor- 
man, ice-pilot. The crew, including the steward (Char- 
ley Tong Sing, of the Jeannette), cook, and engineer's 
force, numbered twenty-six men, one of whom, becoming 
exhausted, was discharged at St. John's, and another man 
shipped in his place. 

Our passage from New York to St. John's was without 
noteworthy incident. A minor break in the moving part 
of the engine caused a delay of several hours ; but, with 
a fair wind, the sails were set, and soon under steam and 
canvas we pushed evenly along, making an average and 
pleasant passage. The better we became acquainted with 
our ship the more we liked her staunchness and sea-going 
qualities ; and although our impatience to advance led 
us at first to wish for a greater display of speed, yet we 



NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 423 

were afterwards satisfied that she was quite fast enough 
for safety in handling and economy of fuel. 

On the 8th of May we sighted Cape Race and our first 
berg, the comments on the size and beauty of which 
from the " tender- foot " members of our mess were quite 
diverting. During the day we passed many hummocky 
bits and bergs between Cape Race and Cape Spear, run- 
ning along in sight of the black rocky coast, with purple 
heather aglow on its distant hills, and patches of snow in 
its hollows and ravines like so many flocks of sheep. 
We exchanged signals with the light-house : " Adieu ! 
God speed ! " it answered ; and then the snow and ice in 
the valleys and lochs seemed to struggle with the white 
cottages for possession of the little garden spots on shore. 
Apparently all the inhabitants in this region directly or 
indirectly fish their livelihood out of the sea, and the 
coast waters are dotted with the brown bark-tanned sails 
of the myriad little fishing craft. General hilarity and 
good-fellowship prevailed among our company, and each 
member was earnest in his endeavor to spin the best and 
tallest yarns. There was much better material in the 
officers' mess of the Thetis than there was in that of the 
Jeannette. 

We arrived in the harbor of St. John's early on the 
morning of the 9th of May, and diligently set to work 
getting our dogs and a few articles of clothing on board. 
We were ready for sea on Sunday morning, but a whole 
gale of wind was blowing outside the harbor, and the 
vessels inside were dragging their anchors ; so we waited 
until Monday forenoon, when, accompanied by our coal- 
vessel, the Loch Garry, we steamed off for Disco and 
what adventure lay before us. The sea continued very 
heavy for several days, and we made but poor headway. 
Towards the 16th the weather became fine, the tempera- 
ture falling to about the freezing point, and producing 
quite a jovial state of feeling among the ship's company. 



424 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

When in latitude 60°, well off the coast or in mid-chan- 
nel, we met with large quantities of drift-ice and numer- 
ous bergs, but we kept steadily on our course straight 
through the loose pack, sighting many seals and walrus. 
Nothing unusual occurred to disturb or enliven the even 
progress of our passage ; though, to be sure, there were 
some in our party to whom the curious and beautiful 
berg-forms, the seals, northern birds, and all the other 
phenomena of high latitudes, were a fresh and constant 
source of delight. 

May 22d we came up abreast of Disco Island. A 
heavy pack extended about eight miles off shore, and we 
here had presented our first opportunity of testing the 
ship's ability to bore her way through masses of broken 
but closely crowded ice. The wind had moved the pack 
off shore, leaving a lane of open water known as the 
"land lead" or "land water." We had no great trouble 
in forcing our way through the ice, but experienced 
some difficulty in finding the harbor, although directly 
off from it, because of the puzzling similarity in appear- 
ance of the high rocky headlands and promontories. 
The proper way to approach the harbor is from the 
westward, close in shore, where the water is deep and 
there are no sunken dangers, and where the beacon on 
a low point of land comes into plain view. As we drew 
near, a native pilot and four men came out to us in a 
whale-boat and piloted us into the outer harbor, where 
we made fast to the edge of the ice, the main harbor 
still being frozen over. . The Loch Garry fastened along- 
side of us, and the work of filling up with coal was at 
once begun. The officers of the Thetis next called on 
the governor and inspector, the two Danish officials who 
look after the interests of the king, to whose private 
purse the incomes of the Greenland settlements accrue. 
Inspector Alfred Andersen and Governor Peter Peter- 
sen have each a wife from Denmark, both bright pleasant 



NORTHWARD ONCE MORE. 425 

ladies who have come into voluntary exile with their 
husbands in the hope of deriving a pension from their 
government that will secure to them a competency in 
their old age. 

Here at Disco I met again my old shipmate Hans 
Christian, the Esquimau dog -driver, who served with 
Dr. Kane, Dr. Hayes, and Captain Hall, and drifted 
about with the memorable floe party, returning with us 
to Greenland in the Tigress. He also cruised with Sir 
George Nares in the English Expedition of 1874. -I 
saw his children, now full-grown men and women, but 
both Charley Polaris, who was born on board the Polaris, 
and his mother, are dead. Hans, however, has another 
little Charley, for he took unto himself a new wife, as all 
savage or semi-savage men do, since women among them 
are only slaves and drudges attending to all the personal 
wants of their lords and masters. I am not prepared to 
say that she is "as good as she is beautiful," yet truly if 
she be no better than she looks, poor Hans is deserving 
of universal compassion. Still I have no doubt but that 
she is more useful than handsome, for their hut was kept 
in comparative good order, and her teeth were worn 
almost to the gums from chewing skins for boots and 
clothing for the household and the market, as the Es- 
quimaux carry on a small trade with the crews of the 
visiting whalers. It was plain, though she had lost one 
eye, that the other was a shrewd business one and could 
single out a desirable purchaser. 

I visited the native school-master, who keeps the vital 
statistics. He told me there were 211 souls in the dis- 
trict of Lievely, an increase of one over the census of last 
year, the population having remained stationary at exactly 
210 for the past ten years. There had been five births 
and five deaths during the year, and one arrival from 
another district. From his records he gave me the fol- 
lowing particulars of population in the North Greenland 



426 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

settlements : Disco Fiord, 52 ; Upernavik, which in- 
cludes Tassusisack, Proven, and the outlying villages, 
730 ; Rittenbenck, 600 ; Egemende, 900 ; Jacobshaven, 
800 ; and Amenack, 800. 

I strolled all over the old ground that I had trod 
twelve years before with a party of jolly young compan- 
ions. The place looked much the same; the huts and 
hovels were as squalid, the natives every whit as miser- 
able, as they were then, and I cannot see wherein Chris- 
tianity has ameliorated the condition of these poor people. 
Most of them speak a little English learned from the 
passing whalemen. The women make various kinds of 
small articles for sale ; caps, slippers, miniature kyacks^ 
tobacco pouches, etc., which are sold on board the ships. 
They can say " money," " half-pound," " pound," or " two 
pound," according to the value of the wares, and all day 
long the natives paddled around the Thetis selling or 
trading. Their goods are very poorly made, and I should 
think that if the government official really had their wel- 
fare at heart, he would see to it that they bestowed more 
skill on their work, subject to the inspection of the store- 
keeper, and would fix a schedule of prices for standard 
articles. 

That evening the inspector had a cooper shop cleaned 
out, and a couple of native fiddlers furnished the music 
for a dance, in which the sailors and Esquimaux belles 
participated. The fun was prolonged far into the morn- 
ing, no lights being needed, for at this season of the year 
the sun is continuously above the horizon. 



CHAPTER II. 

RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 

Upernavik. — The Whalers. — Captain Walker's Story. — The Bear 
Aground. — Racing. — Nipped. — The Duck Islands. — Off Cape 
York. — Conical Rock. 

On the morning of the 24th, having coaled our ships, 
we set sail for Upernavik, attended by the Loch Garry. 
Heavy pack-ice lay along the shore and extended far to 
the westward. The inspector and governor declared 
that it would be impossible for us to get beyond Hare 
Island, in the mouth of Disco Fiord, the Bear having 
been baffled in her attempt to do so a week previous. 
Breasting our way through the broken ice about three 
feet in thickness, we succeeded in gaining open water, 
and ran pleasantly on until six P. M., when we came up 
with a solid front of ice lying even and unbroken to the 
north of us, and apparently reaching across Baffin's Bay. 
The weather was thick and lowering, and considerable 
sea was rolling in on the weather edge of the pack, ren- 
dering the situation decidedly unsafe for the Loch Garry, 
which, being little else than a great iron tank filled with 
coal, should she receive a nip, or should a sea drive 
her against the ice-edge, would most certainly and in- 
stantly become spoils for Davy Jones's locker. So lying 
off the pack all night, it was considered expedient next 
morning to send the Loch Garry back to Disco, there to 
abide the coming of an easterly gale which would drive 
the ice off shore and open up a northerly lead for her 
along the coast. 



428 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

The Thetis was driven bravely into the pack and 
headed towards shore, in the hope of finding land water. 
On we went, bumping and staggering, but making fair 
headway ; at times colliding with a sharp shock against 
great floe-pieces and utterly demoralizing those of the 
company who were inattentive to their environments. 
We forced our way well in towards Hare Island, and after 
ramming and butting for several hours in an attempt to 
break through a narrow neck of ice that impinged against 
the land, finally retired behind the island to await the 
action of the ice. While lying fast to a small berg, 
which was more convenient than to anchor, we descried 
two steamers approaching us through the Waigatt Strait. 
One proved to be the Loch Garry, and the other the 
steam-whaler Arctic, the most powerful of all the Arctic 
steam-fleet, and commanded by Captain Guy, the most 
intrepid and enterprising young sailor in northern waters. 
We thought he would certainly stop and speak us, but not 
so; he went booming along at the rate of about nine 
knots an hour, barely deigning to notice us, and, plunging 
wildly into the ice-neck that had brought us to a halt, 
rolled about from side to side, banging and pushing right 
through, until in an hour or so he had almost disappeared 
from view. We then followed as quickly as possible, but 
the ice setting in shore delayed us for a few minutes. At 
length, emulating the example of our whaling friend, we 
dashed boldly into the pack, leaving behind the Loch 
Garry and the Wolf, another of the whalers. The ice 
closed again and shut out our "coal-tank," but presently 
both vessels got through, the Loch Garry leading. She 
soon caught up with us, distancing the Wolf, but our 
good fortune was only of short duration, for running sev- 
eral miles into a blind lead we were compelled to retrace 
our course, and during this time the Wolf had forged far 
ahead. 

Thus the chase continued throughout our passage from 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 429 

Disco to Upernavik, where we arrived on the morning of 
May the 29th. The run was an exciting one, and we came 
in victorious over both the Arctic and Wolf. Here we 
found the Bear and three steam- whalers, the Triune, 
Polynia, and Nova Zembla, making now quite a fleet of 
us, seven vessels in all, with five more to be heard from. 
The Bear had been as far north as the Browne or Berry 
Islands, but was obliged to return by the state of the ice. 
Several whalers were still to the northward of Kingatook 
awaiting the opening of the pack. 

Coaling the Bear from the Loch Garry, we all got 
under way and pushed on as far as Kingatook, the Loch 
Garry remaining behind until the arrival of the Alert, 
when the season would be so far advanced that there 
could be no difficulty in bringing her forward to Little- 
ton Island. When we halted to procure a lot of seal 
meat for our dogs, the whalers Aurora, Cornwallis, and 
Narwhal were in sight. All the whalemen came on board 
to visit us and said they were going as far north, if nec- 
essary, as Littleton Island; for they all knew of the 
125,000 reward offered by the United States for the re- 
covery of the Greely party, and proposed making a des- 
perate effort to win it if the ice was loose when they 
reached Cape York. Captain Guy, in particular, stoutly 
asserted his intention of securing the reward; so we were 
now actually entered in an ocean* race with the odds very 
much against us. There were ten or twelve ships in the 
fleet, the Arctic having the advantage of speed, and all 
the whalemen the benefit of many years' experience ; yet 
if we could manage to keep company with them into the 
North Water our chances would then improve. 

Captain Walker, for forty years a whaling skipper, 
boarded the Thetis, and told us that late last fall he had 
met some Esquimaux near Cape York who lived on the 
coast to the eastward of the Etah Esquimaux. Among 
them was an old native well known to the captain, who 



430 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

at one time had presented him with a gun for some ser- 
vice rendered. Exhibiting this he said that he had been 
hunting reindeer and seal for a party of five white men 
from Lady Franklin Bay, who were in excellent health, 
as were likewise all of their companions up in the far 
North, save the Doctor, who had been shot, whether 
accidentally or not Captain Walker could not learn. 
Circumstances were such, the captain explained, that he 
could not go in quest of the white men, but the native 
was a thoroughly reliable old fellow, and it was not at 
all likely that he would lie to him. But we knew that 
savage tribes the world over are greatly given to exag- 
geration, and delight in entertaining their listeners with 
marvelous perversions of the truth. 

We lay at Kingatook waiting for the ice to move, until 
June 1st, when it began to blow a half gale, and the 
Arctic fouled with the Bear, the Bear fouled with the 
Thetis, and we were all forced to get under way and 
stand around to the north of the island. Driving our 
ship nearly its whole length into the pack, we had just 
made fast to the edge of the floe, when we observed the 
entire whaling fleet spin away to the northward, the 
Arctic leading by several miles. We, of course, pushed 
off at once in hot pursuit, passing the Triune and Nova 
Zembla, and continuing on to the Berry Islands, where 
we espied the Arctic and the other vessels under the 
land, tied to the floe-edge. This was a good day's work 
and an exciting race, but we could go no further. Seeing 
a long lane of water in shore where the other ships lay, 
we kept on, trying to force our way toward it in company 
with the Bear. Presently a lead opened near the Bear, 
and Captain Schley hailed her to proceed. She shot 
ahead, and we followed at full speed not more than a 
hundred yards astern, when suddenly we saw her bring 
up standing on a shoal or rock. She seemed to leap a 
foot or two directly out of the sea, and then roll over on 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 431 

either side. A few seconds of great excitement ensued. 
It was a perilous position, and we all fully realized what 
the consequences might be. "Back her! " " Stop her!" 
" Port ! " " Starboard ! " was shouted ; and then, — " Hard 
a port," and "Go ahead ! " and the Thetis swung swiftly 
around in deep water just clear of the stern of the Bear, 
which now lay fast and firm, heeled over to starboard. 
From the rate at which we had been going, and the man- 
ner in which she rocked from side to side, we knew the 
shock had been a very severe one, and had perhaps occa- 
sioned such damage that she could not proceed further on 
the voyage. But the hawsers were quickly in play ; she 
soon swung around, and much to our delight and relief 
settled again in the water. We then both steamed into a 
little cove, where a cursory examination revealed no seri- 
ous damage, although the forefoot and iron clamps had 
been carried away and she was leaking badly. But this 
amounted to little, since the water could easily be pumped 
out and the broken and shattered timbers would soon 
swell closer together. Thus a leak of a foot per hour, as 
in the case of the Bear, will in a few days contract to a 
couple of feet in twenty-four hours. 

None of the numerous rocks or shoals along this coast 
are marked on any chart ; indeed no proper coast-survey 
has ever been made. The whalemen — from experience, 
that best of all instructors — are tolerably well acquainted 
with the dangers ; but as far as the mere thing of ground- 
ing their ships is concerned, they do not appear to mind it 
in the least. Two of the whalers were leaking at the rate 
of twenty-four inches per hour, or forty-eight feet in twen- 
ty-four hours ! but the pumps were kept in constant oper- 
ation, and the ships continued serenely on their voyage. 
One old salt, a sturdy Scot, who had been whaling in 
Arctic waters for many years, related an amusing experi- 
ence. He once struck his vessel, and, in his own lan- 
guage, nearly tore her bottom out. She was leaking 



432 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

badly, and the crew mutinied, expressing a natural wish 
to return to Scotland. He prevailed upon them, however, 
to continue the cruise, which resulted in a very successful 
catch ; but of course as the ship was loaded with oil and 
bone, she sank deeper and leaked faster. Finally, when 
a full cargo was secured and the water was making very 
rapidly in the hold, the plucky old captain headed for 
home, and mustering his crew declared that — 

"He would like to see old Scotland as well as any of 
them, but if they ever expected to get there and view 
her bonny blue hills again, they would have to pump and 
be d d to them ! " 

And this is the way in which the whaling industry is 
carried on. The best of ships are originally built for the 
trade, yet in a short time they become dilapidated, but 
still continue to do service and roll up wealth for their 
owners. Apropos of the accident to our consort the 
Bear, we had with us a brawny but not overly bright 
son of Erin, who toiled with the strength of a giant at 
the hawser, and was heard to grumble, — " This is a blank 
of a coast where there's nay ther light nor baycon," — 
as if he expected the shores of this desolate region to 
be lighted and buoyed like our green section of God's 
country. 

We were held captive by the ice off the Berry Islands 
for several days. All the whalers were equally inac- 
tive, save that a man with a spy-glass was never out of 
the crow's-nest, which is simply a large cask of about 
sixty gallons' capacity minus its head, and with a trap- 
door let in to its lower end, which is fastened to the 
fore or main royal pole as a look-out station. We all 
hunted a little for ducks and dovekies, which abound 
in these waters, and the whalemen took occasional climbs 
to the highest point of the islands to observe the move- 
ment of the ice. 

At length, on the morning of the 3d of June, Mr. Nor- 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 433 

man, the ice-pilot, reported five Esquimaux sleds with 
kyachs and hunting-gear in sight, coming from the west- 
ward and making toward one of the whale-ships. Receiv- 
ing permission to take a whale-boat and volunteer crew, 
including Mr. Norman, I started across the open lead and 
then through the soft poshy pack to intercept the hunters, 
surmising that they might be an advance party from 
Greely, or natives with information of him. The ice in 
places was too soft to bear our weight, and as a steam- 
ship could scarcely force her way into it, there was no 
use trying to push our boat through. So we hauled out, 
and then away we went, breaking through at every pull. 
First, Mr. Norman sank in up to his arm-pits, then Hicky 
went in over his head, and Johnson in terror jumped for 
the boat, calling forth an awful anathema from Harvey ; 
and thus we proceeded about three miles with great fun 
and labor. Meanwhile the whaler, observing our manoeu- 
vre, rammed into the ice toward the approaching Esqui- 
maux and soon had them on board. We clambered up 
the side of the Narwhal and were kindly received by her 
master, who extended us the hospitality of his ship and 
an opportunity to wring out our dripping clothes before 
returning to the Thetis. As for the natives, they proved 
to be a hunting-party from Tassusisack, who visited the 
whalemen to barter some of their articles for bread, to- 
bacco, etc. 

Our ships now set sail again and made good progress 
along the coast in a west northwesterly direction, pass- 
ing the village of Tassusisack, where several natives in 
canoes hailed us and pointed out a way into the harbor. 
But we kept on through a maze of small islands, high, 
bold, and bare, impressively picturesque in their bleak 
ice-bound silence. Our artist ensign, Mr. Harlow, here 
caught a number of excellent views with an instanta- 
neous camera. At last our land lead failed us and we 
brought up against a solid wall of ice, held immovably 

28 



434 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

in place by the many little islands. We lay at the floe- 
edge all that night, and next morning the governor, 
attended by some natives, came on board the ship and 
urged us to return to Tassusisack, where we could pro- 
cure oog-joog skins for boot- soles. We consented, at 
length, keeping the governor on board as pilot; and ar- 
riving safely in the little bay where the Tigress had run 
aground twelve years before, we moored fast to the ice and 
sought our evening meal. The whaling vessels had been 
left far behind, but while we ate, our lookout in the 
crow's-nest reported the whole fleet in sight, skipping 
along to the westward, with the Arctic, as usual, in the 
lead. So, regardless of supper, our lines were cast off 
and we steamed out of the harbor again, vastly to the 
astonishment of our friend the governor, who solemnly 
assured us that the ice would not break up for ten days 
to come. It was greatly a matter of chance, the selection 
of leads, but we felt very much chagrined that having 
gained ten or fifteen miles over the whalers, we should 
now see them fully as far in front of us. Still we pushed 
forward, and eventually had the satisfaction of passing 
some of them, and of approaching close to their crack 
ship, the Arctic. But alas! we chose a lead that seemed 
fair to look upon, and proceeded six or eight miles in it 
with a beautiful blue expanse of clear water still stretch- 
ing beyond. Then taking many short cuts we brushed 
so perilously close to the bergs that more than once we 
were obliged to swing the boats in-board to prevent their 
being swept away from the ship's side. It was a grand 
race, not only on account of the novelty of the scene and 
the dangers that spiced our headlong rush, but had not 
our nation wagered the sum of $25,000 on these whale- 
men, and was not the honor of our navy at stake ? We 
drove on in a narrow canal-like lead, which cut off at least 
ten miles of the course the Arctic had taken, and, when 
within five hundred yards or less of open water, made a 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 435 

final dash at a small crack or opening in the canal. 
With all her power and speed brought into play, the 
Thetis rose to the crash like a blooded charger at a high 
hurdle, but she was caught fast in the narrow jaws of the 
ice as if in a vice, and rising several feet out of the water 
she displayed her excellent ability to withstand a nip. 
Yet there we lay firmly fixed, unable to advance or 
retire. The Bear, astern of us, took our hawsers, both 
steel and hemp, but they parted ; we hooked two anchors 
in the ice and worked the steam capstans, but all to no 
purpose; and meanwhile most of the whale-fleet sped 
tranquilly through the clear water within a few hundred 
yards of us, and halted at the floe-edge not far beyond. 
We had clone so nobly and almost won ; but only to learn 
anew, and with painful emphasis, that there is indeed 
many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. 

We now tried to blast the ice in our immediate vicin- 
ity. It was about four feet thick, but rafted together in 
two or three layers, making a total thickness of from 
eight to twelve feet. A ridge was thrown across the 
canal under our bows, and we were wedged tightly in 
by two projecting points of ice beneath our fore-chains. 
Albeit quiet and comfortable, this was by far the most 
critical position we were placed in during the entire voy- 
age. Happily for us the ice was still ; for, had either 
wind or tide set it in motion, the floes would certainly 
have passed through the side of the ship like a sharp 
knife through an old cheese. Charges of powder and 
gun-cotton were exploded under the bows, but with no 
effect. Then a single charge was tried on the port side, 
as close to the ship as was prudent, since the ice bore 
hard against her and the shock would be transmitted 
with fearful force ; yet this was ineffectual. Finally ten 
charges of gun-cotton and gunpowder, five pounds in each 
charge, or twenty-five pounds of gun-cotton and twenty- 
five of common powder in all, were ranged about ten feet 



436 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

apart and fifteen feet from the ship in a gentle circle 
abaft the swell of the bows. The holes were bored in 
the ice with three-and-a-half -inch augers made for the 
purpose, and the charges, pushed under the ice and be- 
tween the layers, were exploded simultaneously by means 
of two batteries. The effect, so far as relieving the ship 
was concerned, amounted to nothing. The shock was 
terrific, but she neither budged nor settled an inch in her 
bed, and the engines of both vessels, were powerless to 
move her. The explosions simply resulted in ten dis- 
tinct holes, each six or seven feet in diameter. Our ex- 
periments at Disco and off Hare Island had been equally 
unsatisfactory, and I question if the Thetis could have 
carried enough gun-cotton in her coal-bunkers to have 
blown her through the ice as far as the coal contained in 
the same bunkers could, with judicious handling, have 
rammed her. Gunpowder and gun-cotton are useless in 
exigencies such as this, and had the ice been in motion, 
nipped as we were, all the gun-cotton in the world could 
not have saved us. And this, I may say, was likewise 
the opinion of our own torpedo officer on board the Jean- 
nette, Lieutenant Chipp, who expressed it as his belief 
that that vessel could not have held sufficient powder to 
have released her from the bed in which she lay. 

We persisted in our efforts until after midnight, and 
then turned in, anxious to see what the morrow and the 
returning tides had in store for us. The day had been 
full of excitement, and now the night was a sleepless 
one. Sebree, the executive officer, was out by five A. M., 
and I along with him. A survey of the situation showed 
that the ice had backed off and the ship settled down to 
her natural water bearings. It was the work of but a 
few minutes to get out a couple of kedges instead of the 
ice -anchors, which, though easier to handle, were not 
sufficiently tenacious. Hawsers were next brought to 
the steam-capstan and drawn taut to the point of snap- 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 437 

ping ; another was attached to the bows of the Bear, and 
we then pulled slowly out of the death-lock as smoothly 
as an old glove slips from the reader's hand. The ram- 
ming process was now continued, and we at last suc- 
ceeded in forming the series of holes into a branch of the 
canal extending around the point of obstruction, and in 
several hours we had again caught up with the leading 
ship of the whale-fleet. 

June 6th. A gloomy and memorable period in the 
history of the Greely party, for on this day three of 
their number died. 

We had tied up to the edge of the ice, when towards 
noon the Arctic, ever vigilant and alert, began ramming 
at a tender part of the floe. When she had advanced 
about three hundred yards, with the Aurora immediately 
in her wake, we swung into line closely followed by the 
Bear, but before we could overtake them the floes came 
together, and we were once more forced to cut our way 
through, the Bear and Thetis striking alternate blows. 
The ice opened, at length, and then away we spun after 
the Arctic and Aurora, with the remainder of the fleet 
close behind us. I think that day was the most pleasur- 
ably exciting I ever passed in Arctic regions. Ten fine 
ships steaming along at full speed in a race for the relief 
of Greely ; the ocean white with floe, hummock, and posh ; 
while scattered over the sea of ice, as thickly as stars in 
the heavens, were countless bergs of all sizes, from the 
tiny, hummocky bits to the great islands, and of as mul- 
tiform and fantastic shapes as the clouds floating in the 
blue vault above us. 

Toward evening it grew cold, and rained and snowed ; 
indeed, I should have observed before that we had expe- 
rienced rain and snow and bad weather ever since we 
reached the Greenland coast. I went aloft, and could 
count our ten ships, all in plain view of each other, made 
fast to the floe, and waiting for a north or northeasterly 



438 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

gale to drive the ice out of the bay, or so scatter it that 
we might fight our way forward. To the westward the 
Duck Islands were in sight, and to the eastward the 
Horse's Head. We kept moving, but oh ! so slowly ; and 
there was not a clear space of water visible. Arctic nav- 
igation, however, teaches one the necessity of patience, 
and of instantaneous displays of energy. Thus, we were 
suddenly called upon to exhibit our agility, for all at once 
the ice opened and moved before us like a kaleidoscope, 
and in an instant the whole fleet was steaming in the 
direction of the Duck Islands, where we arrived before 
midnight, and again fastened to a floe. 

And there we lay about midway across Melville Bay, 
still patiently abiding the tardy movements of the pack. 
The whalemen who visited us did not expect the ice to 
break up within a week, and then only under the influ- 
ence of a lively gale, which at that season was scarcely 
to be looked for. Ducks were not plentiful here, and the 
combined fusillade maintained by the various hunting- 
parties made them very wild ; but we managed to secure 
a few of the eider and king varieties, both of which are 
fairly palatable. A month later these islands were easily 
accessible, and it is singular to me that our yachtsmen 
do not cruise to them for a season's shooting. Walrus 
and seal were scarce, but at one time we saw a school of 
white whales. From observations taken on the south 
side of the islands, we found that they were in latitude 
74° N., whereas they are erroneously charted about ten 
miles to the southward. 

On the morning of June 11th we again got under way. 
For forty hours a fresh wind had been blowing from the 
northeast, and the ice streaming down left plenty of 
water to the north and westward. Accompanied by the 
fleet, we worked out and around the floe, making but 
little headway, in fact not advancing at all on our course ; 
but then the pack was disintegrating, and that was a 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 439 

great satisfaction. The ice was slowly going to pieces, 
but there still remained large cakes of a square mile or 
more in extent. It was comparatively unbroken or tele- 
scoped, and looked as though it might be the previous 
winter's growth. There were two thicknesses of thirty 
inches each — quite a small formation ; but the ice we 
were in was a smooth coherent mass of many miles, seem- 
ingly the permanent floe of the coast-line turned loose by 
the last gale. Perhaps it was a second formation ; if so, 
we may thus account for the large quantities of ice driven 
out into the North Atlantic last winter and spring ; for 
if the floe remained intact, it should certainly, in that 
latitude and exposed position, have grown from six to 
eight feet thick. 

Slowly we edged our way to the westward, until Wil- 
cox Head appeared in sight, and had the weather been 
clear we could then have seen the Devil's Thumb, one 
of the most remarkable landmarks on the coast. But a 
dense fog or cloud hung across the land, screening from 
view all the mountain peaks and promontories. It was 
plain we would be late in crossing the bay, for last year 
Captain Phillips, of the Narwhal, traversed the North 
Water in Prince Regent Inlet by the 9th of June, and 
some of the whale-fleet were off Cape York as early as 
June 3d. The passage from Upernavik to Cape York 
has been made in thirty hours, but we felt that we should 
be lucky indeed if we could accomplish it in three weeks. 
The #25,000 reward was not the only incentive the whale- 
men had to reach the North Water as quickly as possi- 
ble ; for a difference of three days will sometimes deter- 
mine the success of a catch. As soon as disturbed, the 
whales become very wary and take to the ice, barely 
affording the alert whalemen a chance to strike them, or, 
if struck, they dive under the ice and escape. A major- 
ity of the whalers go annually as far north as Dairy mple 
Rock or Saunders Island, and they intended doing so 



440 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

now if they could not force a passage through the middle 
pack to Lancaster Sound ; but Captains Guy, of the Arc- 
tic, and Fairweather, of the Aurora, announced their 
intention of proceeding directly to Littleton Island in 
search of Greely. According to the terms of the reward, 
if they could communicate even one hour ahead of us, 
the prize would be theirs. 

On the 14th we again got under way, the Arctic and 
Wolf starting a good hour in advance of us. There was 
an abundance of open water in sight, and we worked 
steadily along the edge of the shore ice within respect- 
able distance of the two leading whalers. In clear water 
we slowly overhauled them, and at one time were within 
a mile of them, but in passing through the leads they 
seemed to have the advantage of better judgment, and 
overcame their ice difficulties with much greater ease. 
We observed from the first that Captain Guy invariably 
drove his ship just where the ice broke under her bows. 
We now had a good lead in view, and if luck continued 
with us would doubtless make Cape York on the morrow. 
Guy in his powerful vessel still kept in the van, and it 
looked very much as though he would capture the re- 
ward. Beyond the excitement of our race, the days were 
uneventful. One of our company at this time journeyed 
forth on the floe to shoot a seal, and a bear following 
on his tracks was seen and shot by several men from 
the Arctic. Its skin was purchased by an officer of the 
Thetis, and a portion of the carcass was given to us for 
our dogs. Some of the men brought the liver in and fed 
it to the canines, a number of which, however, refused to 
partake of the dainty, although a little Esquimaux dog 
gorged himself upon it, and apparently without injury. 
Yet, strange to say, "Growler," one of our finest Labra- 
dor dogs, ate of the liver and died in convulsions. 

On the 15th of June we brought up against the floe 
almost in sight of Cape York. I fitted an eight-foot Mel- 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 441 

ville sled for a dash in shore should we be beset close to 
the Cape. It was loaded with ten days' provisions for 
four men and eight dogs, and weighed in all four hun- 
dred and fifty-seven pounds, the weight of the sled being 
sixty-six pounds, as against that of a ten-foot McClin- 
tock, which tipped the beam at ninety-four. The outfit 
consisted of one and a half pounds of pemmican per 
man a day ; half a pound of bread ; one ounce of sugar ; 
one half ounce of tea ; four sleeping-bags ; an alcohol 
stove ; pots and pans; two gallons of alcohol ; three gal- 
lons of water ; one shot-gun and one rifle, with one hun- 
dred and fifty rounds of ammunition for each; half a 
pound of pemmican per day for each dog ; two paddles ; 
two boat-hooks ; one heaving-line and small grapnel ; a 
rubber blanket (no tent); binocular glasses ; a bunch of 
rope-yarns, and some small stuff for extra lashings ; eye- 
goggles, etc. ; and some provisions that I knew nothing 
of. It was astonishing how far the guesses came from 
the actual weight ; no one except myself estimated more 
than two hundred and fifty pounds for the total load ; 
and I draw attention to this incident merely to illustrate 
how loads grow heavy by the addition of " just one more 
article," which " does n't weigh much," in fact, " noth- 
ing at all ; " but by the accumulation of which a light 
flying sled-load becomes an unwieldy burden. 

That afternoon we all moved onward, with the Wolf 
in the lead, the Arctic and Aurora next in order, and the 
Thetis and Bear following. We cut off the Aurora, and 
then a race began, resulting at length in our defeat, the 
Aurora forging half a mile ahead of us. Meanwhile the 
mettlesome Bear had been snorting at our heels, impatient 
to exhibit her speed and engage the whalers ; so Captain 
Schley now signaled her to advance. At the command 
she shot past us and gradually crept up on the Aurora, 
but it was only a spurt. She failed to overtake her, and 
during the attempt we had so increased the speed of the 



442 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

Thetis by gentle jockeying in the engine-room that the 
Bear did not exceed an advance of six thousand feet. 
Thus we raced until the morning of June 16th, when 
once more the pack closed up in front of us. The ice 
was moving rapidly and half a gale was blowing, forcing 
us to shift our anchorage to the edge of the floe. The 
Arctic was embayed, the first time we had seen Guy in 
an unfavorable position ; but he had still a chance in- 
shore to lead us in the final heat for Cape York, which 
was now plainly visible. 

The pack opened on the 17th, and speedily we were 
all under way, the Aurora leading by fifteen minutes, 
and the Thetis, Wolf, and Bear following in the order 
named ; but the Arctic, the pride of the whale-fleet, was 
soon left far in the rear, ice-locked. Her plucky captain, 
however, still rammed and butted at his prison walls like 
a madman in his cell, or a frantic hound in its leash, and 
before we reached Cape York he had fought his way 
through and into the van again. Early in the day's con- 
test, the Aurora, with us in her wake, ran into a lead 
that closed upon her. Another lead showed to the south- 
ward, and we took this just as the Aurora passed safely 
through followed by the Wolf. Our lead looked narrow, 
and Schley slowed the Thetis. She stuck fast, and in 
backing out we broke our rudder against the floe. There 
was danger in proceeding, but it was time enough to halt 
when we could not help it ; so on we plunged after the 
Aurora and Wolf. All that night the race continued, 
and at one o'clock in the morning of the 18th we entered 
the North Water. The Aurora was first through, five 
hundred yards in the lead ; then came the Wolf, with our 
flying jib-boom over her rail, and the Bear directly astern 
of us. As we made the North Water, cheer after cheer 
arose from each ship, for we all rejoiced at our release 
from the icy grasp of Melville Bay. The whalemen, now 
fairly on their fishing-ground, were jubilant at their vie- 



RACING IN THE ARCTIC WATERS. 443 

tory over the rest of the fleet, and as for ourselves we 
were truly proud to have arrived simultaneously with 
them. 

The race was now renewed for Cape York in a clear 
sweep of water. The Aurora and Wolf had proved them- 
selves as fast as either the Thetis or Bear, which had 
about the same boiler power ; but the latter was a larger 
and narrower ship and a little speedier than the Thetis. 
So Captain Schley ordered her to advance if possible, 
and reach Cape York ahead of the two whalers, and if 
either or both went on to Littleton Island to proceed in 
company with them, while we landed at Cape York and 
searched the coast-line north. Accordingly she pushed 
forward, passing the Aurora and Wolf, and followed a 
lead in shore, dropping a boat to communicate with the 
Cape, Then seeing no vent ahead she turned back ; and 
meanwhile the Thetis, accompanied by the Arctic, hav- 
ing approached, the whaling captains boarded our vessel 
and bade us good-by, saying they would yield the chase 
and proceed westward to their whaling-ground. 

Standing in towards the Cape, we then picked up the 
boat, sled, officer, and three men, dropped by the Bear, 
and running our bows against the solid floe-edge spoke to 
a native who had seen our ships in the offing and had 
come down on a dog-sled to hail us ; but we only gleaned 
from him that nothing had been seen or heard of the 
white men at or near Cape York. The Bear had been 
instructed to attend the movements of the whalers, lest 
they should play double by crossing the North Water to 
the westward, and following the west water of the mid- 
dle pack north to Littleton Island. So doubling Cape 
York at once, we now stood along the land, passing the 
Esquimaux village that was originally located on the 
eastern side of the Cape, but which has been shifted half 
an hour's ride to the westward. It comprised six huts, 
tepees or igloos, but how many inhabitants we did not 



444 THE GEE ELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

learn, seeing but one. About three P. M. we arrived at 
Conical Rock, having halted to put in several bolts that 
had been broken during our struggle with the floes. It 
was fortunate, indeed, for us that they had remained in 
place while we rammed and raced across Melville Bay. 

Thus far we had received no reliable intelligence of 
Greely, for Captain Walker's Cape York native was 
doubtless a liar. From the broken and scattered condi- 
tion of the ice in Davis Strait, I was convinced that there 
had been open water there for more than a month, and 
that it was then navigable all the way up to Littleton 
Island. Floes and rafts, it was evident, had been driven 
hither and thither, and the ice had packed on either 
shore according as the wind blew ; but then, from the 
easy manner in which the Thetis cut her way through 
the rotten and friable floes, I felt confident, I repeat, that 
the Strait had been open for many days. Bergs, of course, 
were numerous, and out of every ravine there pushed a 
glacier of greater or less magnitude. We were now in 
plain sight of the Petowick Glacier, which reaches from 
Cape Parker Snow to Cape Dudley Digges, a magnificent 
extent of glistening white, the surface as rough and trou- 
bled as a great heaving sea, and from every facet and 
angle of which sparkled the rays of the sun. Its drop- 
pings studded the Strait for miles in every direction. 



CHAPTER III. 
THE RESCUE. 

Saunders Island. — Cape Parry. — Littleton Island. — Finding the 
Records. — The Greely Party. — Scenes at Camp Clay. — Preserv- 
ing the Dead. 

We all felt relieved now that the race for the 825,000 
was over or abandoned, — not that we could claim the 
reward, but Congress by an unlimited appropriation had 
authorized the fitting of our expedition at a cost of 
$750,000, and then deliberately offered a prize of $25,000 
for the whalemen to beat us ; and had Greely been at 
Cane York and the whale-fleet but a few hours ahead of 
us they would have earned the money, with us in sight 
at the time of rescue. It may be said to this that the 
prospect of reward hurried the whale-fleet to the front, 
and that to save our reputation we could not lag behind ; 
but then it must be remembered that the whalemen were 
as anxious for their whales as we were for Greely, and 
that, as previously stated, they have been known to be 
off Cape York as early as June 3d, while with all our 
exertion of energy we only arrived there on the morning 
of the 18th. 

"We finally after twenty-four hours tired of waiting for 
the Bear, and got under way from Conical Rock, where 
there was little game of any kind, birds, seal, or walrus. 
The Bear we supposed was working her way north on the 
west side of the pack toward the Cary Islands, where there 
was a large cache of provisions, and where, as Mrs. Greely 



446 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

had told Lieutenant Emory, her husband would surely 
be found. We were obliged to stand well off-shore to 
keep in the open water, which extended to the north as 
far as we could discern from aloft. Placing a cairn on 
Woostenholm Island to inform the Bear of our movements, 
we came to off Saunders Island on June 20th, and found a 
large summer encampment of natives, probably one hun- 
dred and sixty in number, who had journeyed, they said, 
from North Star Bay in spring time. They visited us on 
eighteen dog-sleds, and men, women, and children roamed 
all over the ship. .They had nothing to barter, but took 
anything that was offered them, and modestly asked for 
everything they saw. They told us they had seen the 
Proteus party on its retreat last summer, but had not 
shown themselves because they were afraid ; three or four 
of their men and women having even remained hid on 
Saunders Island while Garlington and his men camped 
there. Since then, however, they had not seen or heard 
of any white men from the north. One of our male visit- 
ors had lost a foot at the ankle, and with his leg encased 
in a tight-fitting moccasin was stumping unconcernedly 
around on the joint. Whether any one assisted Jack 
Frost in amputating the foot we could not discover. 
Another old fellow was possessed of an ancient and di- 
lapidated gun of German manufacture. The cock would 
not stand for him, so he held it up in order to snap a cap. 
A second native owned an old United States Springfield 
musket, stamped 1862, but like the first he had neither 
powder, lead, nor caps, for which we were deaf to their 
entreaties. I observed while in Siberia that the Yakut 
and Tunguse dislike the cap gun and cling persistently to 
the old-fashioned flint-lock, because the steel will practi- 
cally last forever and they can always procure a flint. 

Upon giving the natives a few scraps of iron they im- 
mediately indicated that they wished them fashioned into 
spear-heads; and indeed a blacksmith would be altogether 



THE RESCUE. 447 

a more useful and acceptable gift than the missionary 
that the Greenland governor promises to send them. 
Their sleds were, like those built by all Esquimaux, mar- 
vels of ingenious and patient workmanship ; the runners 
and cross-bearer bars consisting of small bits of wood and 
walrus bone bound together with fchongs, and shod their 
whole length with ivory, but so covered with grease, blood, 
and filth that it was almost impossible to see how they 
were knit or joined. Like the natives themselves, who 
were living on the fat of their land, to wit, on seal and 
walrus fat and blubber and water-fowl of all kinds, the 
dogs were in excellent condition, but as wild -as wolves. 
The sight of our ship and people seemed to fill them with 
terror, and they tugged frantically away at their leashes 
and traces until some at length succeeded in freeing them- 
selves and dashing across the floe. Hitherto these natives 
had never made use of boats, but they w r ere now utilizing 
a small one abandoned by the Proteus party, and were 
constructing the frame of a kyach from small pieces of 
drift-wood lashed together. What a godsend to these 
people it would be to dump in their midst the condemned 
material of a cooper's yard! As an illustration of the 
rudeness of their work, I saw a harpoon staff six feet long 
composed of ten distinct pieces of wood lashed compara- 
tively straight, and shod with walrus ivory. 

After a halt of several hours at .Saunders Island we 
pushed on to Cape Parry, where we landed and left a 
record marked by a flag for the Bear. Here there were 
fresh sled-tracks on the snow and ice, turning into Whale 
Sound ; and on the low beach that stretches along the 
foot of the mountains were numerous Esquimaux graves, 
and many little cairns and spots covered with refuse, 
where the natives had made their summer encampments. 
Rabbits were seen in great numbers on the highlands and 
in the vallej^s ; there were fresh evidences of the presence 
of deer ; and indeed, from the abundance of walrus, seal, 



448 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

and bear bones scattered along the beach, it was evident 
that this is a decidedly favorite hunting-ground. While 
there I secured the skulls of five Esquimaux, all in a fair 
state of preservation, but covered with moss and lichens 
and very delicate to handle. 

When leaving our anchorage close in-shore, where we 
had fastened to the narrow ice-foot, the Thetis slightly 
scraped the bottom on the starboard bilge, but no damage 
was incurred, and we proceeded without delay. The ice 
lay in a solid mass about three feet thick across the mouth 
of Whale Sound, but we skirted the edge in beautiful 
open water, seldom having occasion to struggle with the 
floe. As we ran along we noticed a fresh sled-track pro- 
ceeding from Northumberland Island towards Cape Parry, 
but the round grooves in the snow and ice showed that 
the runners had been shod, Esquimau fashion, with 
walrus tusk ivory. The team had consisted of three dogs, 
and we could distinguish the mark of the whip trailing 
behind in the snow. 

On the morning of June 21st we arrived at Littleton 
Island, the objective point of our cruise. It had been our 
intention to pass between Littleton and McGarry islands, 
but the wind blew shoreward, and upon slowing the ship 
she sagged down to leeward out of mid-channel, and we 
struck heavily on the Littleton Island shore. The engine 
was kept in motion, however, and the ship gradually 
forged ahead with helm hard a starboard, until, hanging 
for an instant amidships, she at length came off without 
injury, and we rounded McGarry Island and made fast 
to a grounded berg. Life-Boat Cove was in plain sight, 
but no vestige of the old Polaris house remained. It had 
been so strongly built of the deck-house and upper timbers 
of that vessel that I had thought it would surely last for- 
ever, but the Esquimaux have evidently torn it down for 
the wood. 

After an early morning meal we landed to search the 



THE RESCUE. 449 

island for cairns and records, confident that Greely had 
done everything in his power to reach this point. We 
found untouched and in good condition the Neptune cairn 
and the one erected by Sir George Nares, together with 
the coal and stores cached by the Neptune party ; but 
there was no record whatever of Greely or his men. 
While lying here we shot a few ducks and gathered a 
number of eggs ; and on Sunday morning (June 22d) we 
landed one thousand rations of bread, pemmican, tea, 
sugar, and alcohol for fuel. The Bear had not yet shown 
herself since we separated at Cape York ; and now, after 
waiting thirty hours for her, with fair and promising 
weather, Commander Schley had become very anxious 
to advance. But as it had been part of the general plan 
of the expedition that our two ships should keep together 
as constantly as possible so as to avoid the disaster that 
overtook the Proteus during the absence of the Yantic, he 
finally decided to run over and search Cape Sabine, the 
water being open and favorable, and then return to Little- 
ton Island to await the arrival of the Bear. This we set 
out to do, and the men were actually on shore about to 
cast oh the lines, when greatly to our delight we descried 
the Bear coming up the channel. 

It appeared that in company with the whale-ships she 
had proceeded but a short distance to the westward, 
when it was discovered that the North Water did not ex- 
tend any further. So they were all obliged to return, 
and, being unable to find entrance into the land lead, 
worked their way north through the middle pack, failing 
to see us when we lay at Conical Rock, and to observe 
our cairns or signals there or at Woostenholm Island and 
Cape Parry. The whole fleet continued on to the Cary 
Islands, where they halted in the hope of finding a pas- 
sage to the west of the pack. The Bear, after examining 
the cache of provisions there and finding it in a good 
state of preservation, then pushed on to Littleton Island, 

29 



450 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

having learned no more of the fate of Greely and his 
men than did we. But those who had known the man, 
his orders, and that clause of his own final instructions, 
directing that a depot of supplies be made at Littleton 
Island, and that a sharp lookout be kept on Cape Sabine 
for his retreating column, were assured that he had used 
every means in his power to gain Littleton Island ; for, 
as a regular officer of twenty-three years' service, it was 
not likely that he would deal lightly %ith orders, or 
pursue a course different from the one he had marked 
out. Some persons there were, it is true, who professed 
to believe that he would not abandon Fort Conger ; and 
others again, with even less foundation for their belief, that 
after proceeding as far south as Cape Sabine he would at- 
tempt to return ; but it was our general and only war- 
ranted impression that we would find Greely as near to 
Littleton Island as he could possibly come. And there- 
fore, since we had searched all the prominent points north 
from Cape York, the next places in order were Cape 
Sabine, Payer Harbor, and Brevoort Island, all within a 
radius of several miles of each other. So about a quarter 
past seven in the afternoon of the 22d both ships got 
under way standing across the bay, and soon brought up 
against the fast ice north of Payer Harbor between Bre- 
voort Island and Cape Sabine. 

As heretofore, every one who could be spared was sent 
on shore to search for cairns and records, Commander 
Schley ordered the steam-cutter of the Bear to be low- 
ered and got in readiness for a visit to the cairn built to 
the westward of Cape Sabine by the Neptune, and the 
depot of five hundred and fifty rations made by Lieu- 
tenant Garlington at the same place. A party was also 
dispatched to examine a cairn left by the Neptune on a 
low neck of land connecting Brevoort Island with the 
main Stalknecht Island ; a party under Lieutenant 
Taunt of the Thetis was detailed to search Brevoort 



THE RESCUE. 451 

Island ; another under Ensign Harlow, to visit the cache 
on Stalknecht Island ; and finally officers and men from 
both vessels were dispersed in all directions to find what 
they could. 

Dr. Green of the Thetis and myself made straightway 
for Stalknecht, passing Dr. Ames, who was on his way to 
the main-land. We could distinguish the cairn on the 
island, but there was broken ice between us ; and pres- 
ently we saw Ensign Harlow and command make a de- 
tour along the land for the solid floe. At this instant 
a cheer arose from Taunt's party on Brevoort Island. 
They had discovered the first record, and we next ob- 
served seaman Yewell, of our ship, waving it above his 
head and running like a deer towards the Thetis. Has- 
tening on in the direction of the Stalknecht cairn, now 
in plain sight, we were suddenly startled by another 
cheer, issuing this time from Ensign Harlow's force, like- 
wise of the Thetis. Joining him we found that he had 
tumbled down the cairn and come upon a box of choice 
photographs, and papers, instruments, and records of the 
Greely expedition ; together with a separate record left 
by Lieutenant Lockwood. It was dated September 22d, 
1883, just nine months past, and stated that the party 
had gone " into camp four and a half miles west of Cape 
Sabine, or about midway between that point and Cocked 
Hat Island. Twenty-five men, all well." 

Twenty-five men, all well ! At this good news my 
companions seemed overjoyed, but I reminded them that 
the record was written nine months before, and that ere 
now all hands may have starved to death. However, the 
Thetis and Bear were now blowing their steam-whistles 
for our return, and we had seven pieces of baggage to 
carry back over the rugged ice. Ensign Harlow sig- 
naled the Thetis for a sled, but five of us, without 
waiting, seized each a package of books or papers and 
started across the floe, meeting at length the sled-party, 



452 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

and soon we were all again on board ship. Meanwhile 
Commander Schley had ordered a party composed of 
Colwell, Lowe, Ash, and Dr. Ames of the Bear, and Mr. 
Norman, the ice-pilot of the Thetis, with a couple of men, 
to proceed to the spot where, in the record found by Lieu- 
tenant Taunt, Greely and his men were said to be. 

By this time the screeching of our whistles had alarmed 
the unfortunates at Camp Clay, and three of the strongest 
of their number, Fredericks, Long, and Br ai nerd, tottered 
down to the edge of the rocky promontory to look for 
the relief they were sure had come. The whole party 
had been lying under a portion of the fallen tent for 
forty hours, some of the men being buried beneath it 
and unable to move, for a gale had been steadily blowing 
for fifty-six hours. The three had gazed long and anx- 
iously to the eastward, whence they were expecting suc- 
cor, but no sight or sound of the longed-for ship glad- 
dened their eyes or ears. They were nearly palsied 
with disappointment, and one of them declared that he 
now despaired for the first time. 

Returning then to their starving comrades with the 
sad intelligence that no vessel was in sight, a garrulous 
discussion arose as to the cause of the prolonged and dis- 
tinct blast which sounded so strangely like a steam-whis- 
tle, for they had heard but one blast, albeit the whistles 
of both ships were kept blowing for more than half an 
hour. Lieutenant Greely at last told the men to cease 
their quarreling and save their strength for a better pur- 
pose. Long then said he would go again to the low 
promontory and take another look. He did so, and gaz- 
ing eastward beheld our steam-cutter. With unspeaka- 
ble joy he tried to raise a signal of distress — the loom 
of an oar with three old rags nailed fast to it ; but the 
furious wind blew it down. The steam-cutter had now 
observed him, however, and run in-shore to the ice-foot, 
down upon which Long contrived to roll and scramble. 



THE RESCUE. 453 

Clamoring meanwhile for food, lie informed his eager 
questioners that his comrades were over the hill, and that 
seven still survived, one of them an officer, Major Greely. 
At this Mr. Norman, our ice-pilot, bounded out of the 
boat and up the hill, and was the first of our company 
to greet Greely, as he had also been the last to see him 
three years before, when the Proteus had carried the 
command up to Lady Franklin Bay. 

" Greely, are ye there? How do ye get in ? " Mr. Nor- 
man hailed from without the tent, the rear end only of 
which was standing. 

"Is that you, Mr. Norman ?" responded Greely at once. 

" Yes, it is ; you are all right now, succor has come ; " 
shouted Norman, who was now joined by Lowe, and Ash, 
the ice-pilot of the Bear. Following then the directions of 
Lieutenant Greely, he cut the back out of the tent with 
his pocket-knife. 

While this was transpiring Commander Schley had 
leaped on board the Bear and backed her out of her ice- 
bed, instructing Lieutenant Sebree of the Thetis to pick 
up the search parties from both ships and bring them 
around to Camp Clay. So only a few minutes elapsed 
ere the Bear had followed the cutter, and the Thetis the 
Bear, and soon every officer and man in our expedition 
who could be spared was doing his utmost to transport 
the survivors on board ship, and to gather together the 
wreckage of the camp. All the while the wind was 
blowing so fiercely that only a strong man could with- 
stand it. Luckily it was off-shore, and the ships could 
safely steam straight against it ; but so powerful was the 
gale that though going at full speed they were driven 
back, and when turned around by the force of wind 
under bare poles were placed in no little peril. Indeed, 
it seemed as if the evil fortune that had pursued the 
luckless band of heroic explorers was invoking the aid 
of the elements to prevent at this critical moment their 
rescue before death. 



454 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

The scene itself was indescribable, and I shall not at- 
tempt to depict our pity and horror as we viewed it. A 
cold barren plateau, between a small outlying promon- 
tory and a bleak weather-riven rock of red syenite reach- 
ing to the skies, on which even the mosses and lichens 
would scarce grow. The raging of the wind and the 
pitiless sea, and the roar of the black water of the bay 
dashing over the ice-foot, made the lonesome picture 
look colder and more appalling. Drifts of ice and snow 
choked the ravines and hollows; but, saving ourselves 
and the famished, skeleton-like survivors, not a living 
thing appeared on the whitened landscape. The region 
truly seemed to be the most desolate on the face of the 
earth. It looked as though the curses of ten thousand 
witches had descended upon and blasted it, and even the 
birds would not dare to take their flight across the lifeless 
land lest they too fall victims into the death-gap below. 

Struggling up the valley of death, against the frantic 
wind, from the low point to the westward of the camp, 
where we managed with difficulty to effect a landing in 
our whale-boats, we first came upon the remains of the 
winter habitation, a parallelogram of four walls about 
three feet high, built of loose stone, the inside dimensions 
being perhaps 18 X 22 feet, with a tunnel or covered way 
facing the mountain to the southward. This hut had 
been roofed over with the whale-boats turned upside 
down and covered with the sails and tent-cloths ; the 
smoke-flue, made of old tin-kettles bound with bits of 
canvas, was thrown to one side ; and water had risen 
in and about the wretched dwelling-place to a height of 
eight inches, concealing much of the foul evidence of 
squalid misery in which its poor occupants had lived. 
Cast-off fur and cloth clothing, empty tin cans, and the 
sickening filth of twenty-five men for nine months, lay 
heaped and scattered about — a veritable Augean scene. 
Continuing up the valley toward a little rise of ground we 



THE RESCUE. 455 

passed the dead body of a man laid out on a projecting 
plane of rock. A woollen cap was pulled down over his 
face, his hands were crossed on his breast, and his cloth- 
ing and blankets were fastened around him with old 
straps and shreds of rope or yarns. Further up the hill 
lay the summer camp or tent, black with smoke and 
partly blown down, the flaps flying in the wind, which 
was blowing loose papers, leaves of books, and old cloth- 
ing hither and thither ; and on their backs within this 
half-open inclosure lay the poor creatures whom we had 
come to rescue, now more dead than alive. 

Greely, in his sleeping-bag, and resting on his hands 
and knees, was peering out through the open door-way ; 
his hair and beard black, long, and matted, his hands 
and face begrimed with the soot of months, and his eyes 
glittering with an intense excitement. For what terrible 
days of agony had been swept into oblivion by this su- 
preme moment of joy. Succor had come at last ! And 
yet he scarcely seemed to realize it. Mr. Norman told 
him who I was, and he said he was glad to see one of the 
people of the Jeannette, for he had learned a great deal 
of the history of our expedition from scraps of newspapers 
that had been wrapped around some lemons left by the 
Garlington party. Alongside of him lay a man on his 
back, Sergeant Ellison, to whom he introduced me, and 
who said he would like to shake hands with me, but his 
hands and feet were both frozen off. I looked down and 
saw that his nose was likewise gone. Yet he seemed 
cheerful and bright, and coolly discussed his sorrowful 
plight, thrusting out one of his arm-stumps, which I 
shook in lieu of a hand. Higher up and beyond the tent 
was the burial-ground, where ten bodies lay in a row, 
some barely covered with loose earth and stones. The 
first grave, or one nearest to the northern crest of the 
hill, had been very carefully made, for it was that of 
Sergeant Ross, the first man to die, and the survivors 



456 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION, 

were then still strong enough to endure a little exertion. 
To the southward, or toward the face of the mountain, 
the graves became more and more shallow, just as the 
strength of the party was waning. All the faces were 
covered with woollen hoods and cloths or handkerchiefs ; 
and each body was stretched out on its back, with the 
hands crossed on the breast and the clothing bouud 
round. Only one corpse was found unburied, that of 
Private Henry; but the six that had been interred in the 
ice-foot were of course beyond recovery. 

In the camp all was bustle and confusion. One man, 
Connell, was to all appearance lifeless ; his face was fixed 
in death ; he was cold from the hips down ; and he 
scarcely breathed. Three days before he had eaten his 
last ration of seal-skin, and, abandoning all hope, had 
calmly determined to die. Doctors Green and Ames had 
their hands full of work. Water-kettles were heated, 
and the clothes being stripped from the half-dead Con- 
nell, be was wrapped in a blanket dipped in hot water. 
A little brandy was then poured down his throat, but it 
ran out at the side of his mouth until, catching his breath, 
he drew in sufficient to choke him and blew out the rest. 
Yet the few drops he retained sufficed to revive him, and 
rolling his head to one side he said wearily, " Let me 
die in peace." Not realizing that succor had arrived, he 
thought his comrades were still laboring with him. How- 
ever, he survived, and still lives. He was a vivacious 
sort of man, and when on board the Thetis a few days, 
remarked, — " Well, boys, it was a pretty close squeeze 
for me. Death had me by the heels, and you pulled me 
out by the back of the neck." 

Stretchers were brought from the ship, and the sur- 
vivors carried to the steam-cutter and then transferred to 
the Thetis ; all save Fredericks and Long, who, as hunters 
for the party, had been allowed additional rations from 
the game procured, to maintain their strength for the 








1. The Devil's Thumb. 2. Lieutenant Greely. 3. Finding the Greely party. 
4. Carrying them down to the boats. 



THE RESCUE. 457 

extra exertion demanded of them. The camp was devoid 
of all food except a few pounds of boiled seal-skin strips, 
contained in tin cans. The final division of this food had 
been made some days before, and each man had charge 
of his own meagre supply. Considerable wood, includ- 
ing about four feet of the bows of the light-boat, still 
remained as fuel; and the bodies of the two ducks just 
killed, and one as yet untouched, were found at the old 
winter hut. Here, let me again observe, that this seems 
to be the most desolate, inhospitable spot on the face of 
the earth ; while only twenty-one and a half miles across 
the Sound, sea-fowl and the eggs thereof are as plentiful 
as mosquitoes in Siberia. We killed two or three hundred 
braces of eider ducks at Littleton Island, and our people 
would not touch gull eggs, so bountiful was the supply of 
duck eggs. At Cape Sabine the famishing camp seldom 
saw a bird of any kind, nor any walrus, and but few seal ; 
while on the opposite coast there was an abundance of 
game a month or six weeks earlier in the season. 

The faces of two of the men were so swollen that they 
could scarcely see, and the rheum and slime had gathered 
in their eyes and half blinded them. They were too 
weak to help themselves, and dipping an old woollen 
sack in warm water I cleansed the eyes of one who lay 
upon his back gazing dimly in the direction where our 
mast-heads could be seen across the rocks. 

Commander Schley stood by and said, — 

" My man, don't you see the ship's masts ? Don't you 
see the flags ? " For we had mast-headed our colors. 

"Please lift me up a little," he urged huskily, "that I 
may see." Then catching sight of the colors, he cried, — - 
" Hooray ! There is the old flag again ; now, boys, we '11 
get some mush." And he did his best to raise a feeble 
cheer, while tears of joy ran down his cheeks as we sup- 
ported him in his sleeping-bag. 

When I shook poor Ellison by the stump, he said, — 



458 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

" So you are one of the officers from the Jeannette, and 
poor De Long is dead. You must have had a terrible 
time." Here was sympathy sure enough. A man with 
nose, feet, and hands frozen off, who for months had been 
helplessly stretched upon his back enduring every agony 
and horror but death itself, could nevertheless find room 
in his bleeding heart to pity the past sufferings of others. 
A noble nature, indeed. He it was who sacrificed his 
life on the expedition to Cape Isabella for the English 
beef, when Sergeant Rice likewise perished. 

And these are the great souls who die for their com- 
panions ; who, with their lives in their hands, crawling 
on their very knees, go bravely forth to meet an heroic 
death, while their comrades are in their sleeping-bags, 
or their cruel critics away off in comfortable pot-houses 
are penning their uncharitable and infamous obloquies. 
Yes, when the cold waves extinguished the life of that 
poor Esquimau whose frail kyack was cut through by the 
treacherous ice while he so bravely strove to catch the 
seal his white friends were dying for, — there perished 
one of the noblest of souls. 

And wolves, and ghouls, and would-be critics of Arctic 
toil and suffering, halt and know that the men whom 
you traduce or whose memories you would blast forever, 
perhaps for a penny a line, are made of finer clay than 
you ; men who were and are yet ready to sacrifice every- 
thing on earth save honor for the sake of science and 
the benefit of mankind. Men who did their best; and 
that best is so far ahead of the conception of their mali- 
cious judges that it is a nation's shame that it permits 
its heroes, living and dead, to be dragged through the 
slime of public courts and press for the gratification of 
the prurient multitude of scandal-mongers, gloating over 
the silly effusions of the Arctic critic who never ventures 
his dear life nearer to the Arctic Circle than can be seen 
from the window of some tall printing-house south of 
50° N. latitute. 



THE RESCUE. 459 

It was after midnight of June 22d before we finished 
our sad duty of removing all the dead and living, to- 
gether with the books and papers and certain relics, from 
Camp Clay to our two vessels ; and we then sought shel- 
ter from the gale under the lee of Brevoort Island. The 
next morning saw both ships moored together at Payer 
Harbor ; but when the fury of the wind had abated, 
Captain Schley sent back in the Bear a party of officers 
and men selected from both companies to go over the 
ground more carefully at Camp Clay and gather up all 
overlooked articles that might be of value either as me- 
mentoes or a part of the history of the expedition. 

The pendulum and a case of photograph negatives 
which we had left the previous day on Stalknecht Island 
were taken on board ; and after a search of several hours 
the shrill whistle of the Bear recalled us in haste, and 
we left behind many articles, of no value, however, except 
as relics. The ice that had been driven up the Sound by 
the gale was now returning with a dangerous rush; so 
we steamed across to Littleton Island and made fast to a 
small berg. 

All the dead except Private Henry had been laid out 
on the Thetis and covered with ice readily hoisted over 
the ship's side for that purpose, and now the question 
arose as to their care and preservation ; for, albeit the 
temperature was far below freezing point, the sickening 
odor from the bodies pervaded the whole ship. It was 
at first proposed to build an ice-box, but then we be- 
thought ourselves of the alcohol we had on board and 
the oil-tanks in the engine-rooms. So these were called 
into requisition, and five of the dead being transferred 
to the Bear for preparation, those on the Thetis were 
stripped of their clothing, and bandaged after the man- 
ner of an Egyptian mummy. They were then sewed up 
in sheets, chocked tightly in the tanks with billets of 
wood, and covered with alcohol, sixty per cent, pure, 



460 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

which not only prevented further decay but rendered the 
bodies hard and solid to the touch. This last and melan- 
choly office was performed by the surgeon of each ship 
assisted by several of the officers who volunteered their 
services, and the disagreeable duty was done behind a can- 
vas screen on the forecastle, away from the idle gaze of 
the crew. To avoid any possible error or difficulty in the 
future identification of the bodies, a piece of numbered 
canvas was sewed on each one, beginning with Sergeant 
Cross, the first man to die, who was consequently marked 
number one, and so on down to the last body in the row 
of graves, number ten ; then came Private Snyder, whom 
we had found on the projecting rock; and finally — num- 
ber twelve — the remains of Private Henry, recovered 
from the ice-foot. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE RETURN VOYAGE. 

Reminiscences. — Foulke Fiord. — The Inconstant Esquimaux. — 
The Burial of Frederic Christiansen. — St. John's. — Portsmouth. 
— New York. 

As will be supposed, there were many incidents of ab- 
sorbing interest related to us by the rescued party. At 
one time, they said, their hunter killed a dovekie weigh- 
ing about a pound. Greely assigned the whole of it to 
the hunter, to encourage him in his good work and keep 
up his strength. But one poor fellow clamored for his 
share of the food. In vain Greely tried to show him 
that his quota would only amount to an ounce, and that 
it would be far better for him in the end to yield it to 
the hunter. He claimed his ounce, and said he would 
pay $300 of the money due him from the government for 
the bird. He burst into tears,, and finally, to quiet him, 
he was given an ounce of the raw flesh. He ate it and 
was satisfied, although his comrades ridiculed him and 
called him coward. Three days later he died of starva- 
tion. 

The skins and bones of the birds procured were used 
for shrimp-bait. These little shrimps or sea-fleas are 
about the size of a grain of millet seed, and were caught 
in tin cans punched full of small holes, which at intervals 
were drawn up, cleaned of their contents, and then reset. 
Of these diminutive Crustacea it requires 2,300 to fill a 
gill measure ! Ye fishermen who fish for a living, think 
of this ! And still on these they contrived to eke out an 
existence for weeks. 



462 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

We left Littleton Island early in the morning of June 
24th, and had gotten well out in the Strait, when the 
Bear signaled us to wait. We afterwards learned that 
as she was about to get under way, an oomiak full of na- 
tives came alongside of her. They had been living at 
Life-Boat Cove, just to the north of where we were 
lying, but had escaped our notice. Steaming along the 
coast, now quite free of ice, we at length ran into the 
mouth of Foulke Fiord, or Port Foulke. 

The harbor was still locked by tbe fast bay ice, but we 
could see far up the Fiord, beyond the little island which 
afforded Dr. Hayes such a snug anchorage. Cold and 
bleak though it be, it is a beautiful spot, and, compared 
with Camp Clay, or the everlasting ice-pack that sur- 
rounded the Jeannette, looked a perfect paradise. In the 
dim mist the distant mountains could be seen stretching 
far inland, and but for the raw chilly air of the day one 
of a dreaming nature might have idly stood, and, survey- 
ing the peaceful scene, have lost himself in reveries of 
the dolcefar niente. Small wonder that Hayes selected 
this superb place for his winter harbor ; it is enchanting 
enough to tempt any one to winter there and drink in 
its Arctic glories, from the great rocks fading away in 
the fog from black to a hazy purple, to the dazzling purity 
of the crystal glacier. There is nothing so grand in na- 
ture ; and, as I said before, I cannot help marveling why 
our millionaire yachtsmen do not cruise there and enjoy 
these matchless sights. The voyage can be made in two 
months, July and August, with entire safety to the frail- 
est of their steam-yachts. 

Towards noon we again put off and sailed down as far 
as Northumberland and Hackluyt islands, where we lay 
all night. In the morning we found that the ice had 
drawn us down on the land, and it was with no little dif- 
ficulty that we released ourselves. About ten P. M. of 
that day we were off Cape Parry, and making fast to the 



THE RETURN VOYAGE. 468 

ice sent a party on shore to remove our old record and 
replace it with a new one for the Alert, in case wo should 
pass her on our way south. 

Proceeding, we spoke the whalers Jan Mayen, Esqui- 
maux, and Narwhal, which were working their way across 
the North Water, and on the morning of the 26th we 
espied two more under the land at Woostenholm Island. 
We then ran into the mouth of North Star Bay and 
moored to the floe. Here a number of Esquimaux, seven 
dog-sled loads of men, women, and children, paid us a 
visit and were photographed for their trouble, though in 
addition we gave them bread and plenty of wood and 
needles. Resuming our voyage we were off Conical Rock 
before morning, and lifting the record we had left for the 
Bear, deposited in its stead a fresh one for the Alert. 

Now that our duty of rescuing the perishing party was 
happily performed, we had plenty of leisure to jog easily 
along on our return home and do the artistic Arctic 
thing of tying up to a berg, or, as the Arctic poet would 
more prettily put it, " lie out a gale under the lee of a 
friendly berg." We tried to do this that night, but the 
berg we selected was too high and not at all friendly ; it 
carried away our flying jib-boom and head -gear, and 
knocked the cheek, breasts, and arms from " Mrs." 
Thetis. So as heretofore we ran the ship into the pack, 
where we lay quietly enough, drifting gently along. 

While we were threading our way through the loose 
ice, one of our two Esquimaux interpreters was seen to 
leap suddenly over the ship's side and dash towards the 
land like a deer. Instantly both vessels were put about 
and driven through the pack to cut him off, and several 
men from the Bear took up the chase on foot. As the 
fellow ran, he would occasionally halt, roll over on his 
back, and elevate his legs in the air to let the water out 
of his moccasins, which were evidently weighing him 
down ; but finally, after a hot pursuit of a mile or two, he 



464 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

was captured and returned to the skip. He would offer 
no explanation of bis conduct, and becoming insolent was 
at last put in irons for safe keeping. We could assign 
no reason for bis wishing to desert, unless it were to es- 
cape marriage to some dusky maiden at Disco to whom 
he had become engaged, for the governor sometimes 
forces the gay young Lotharios into matrimony. Per- 
haps he longed for the freedom of the Etab Esquimaux 
whom we had just left, or he may have found a new love 
among their number. However, he fled the ship utterly 
unprepared for a journey; having neither provisions of 
anv kind about him, nor weapons with which to procure 
game. And previously he had been entirely happy and 
contented among us, and had grown as fat as a porker. 
It may be that be desired to convert himself into a moun- 
tain spirit, for these natives have a superstition that all 
who stray away into the mountains and starve to death 
straightway become powerful spirits for good or evil to 
friends or enemies ; and possessed of this belief many of 
them have been known to wander away and voluntarily 
perish. 

Desertion among the Esquimaux is by no means un- 
common. Hans left both Kane and Hayes for the Etahs; 
Joe Iberbing, growing weary of the restraint on the Ti- 
gress, asked to be put on shore with his people at Nianti- 
lisk Harbor ; Greely told us that his two natives, taking 
a notion at one time to go home, set boldly forth and had 
to be forcibly arrested, one of them starting off in mid- 
winter, without his mittens or any means of procuring 
food, to make the long journey back to Proven or Disco ; 
and I remember that poor Alexia often spoke of securing 
permission to return home from the ice-bound Jeannette. 

As we advanced to the southward our patients grew 
stronger — all save Sergeant Ellison, whose mind gave 
way. The shock was too great, and then as we fed him 
the blood coursed more freely and there was danger of 



THE RETURN VOYAGE. 465 

the old wounds at his ankles breaking out anew. Dr. 
Green told us that second amputations would be neces- 
sary when we reached warmer weather. Poor fellow, he 
had such queer fancies ; and it was so sadly plain that he 
must die. 

Rounding Cape York we were now fairly on our way 
home. On the evening of June 30th, while still in sight 
of the Devil's Thumb, we met the Alert and Loch Garry. 
Our mail was brought on board, and the night passed 
merrily. But what a constant surprise and curiosity that 
"iron tank," the Loch Garry, was to us; for verily I do 
not believe there was a single individual in St. John's of 
any ice experience whatever, or who gave the subject any 
thought, who for one instant imagined that the Loch 
Garry would ever cross Melville Bay. Nevertheless, she 
got half way over, and the worst half at that ; though 
there can be no doubt that had she been nipped in the 
tenderest fashion, she would have collapsed like a black- 
smith's bellows. This simply shows what kind of vessels 
the almighty dollar can induce to venture into the Arc- 
tic regions ; then why not our strongly - built gunboat 
types ? Where there 's a will, there 's a way, and it was 
really astonishing to watch the Loch Garry pushing along 
with the rest of us. 

Early in the morning of July 2d, while running briskly 
ahead, the Thetis just cleared a rock, but the Bear, which 
seemed to possess a penchant for such things, ran hard 
and fast aground. However, our combined efforts shortly 
set her free ; and now the time had come for the Thetis 
and Bear to part company for a while with the Alert and 
Loch Garry, they to proceed directly to Disco, while we 
halted at L T pernavik to take up the coal that had been 
deposited there by the Loch Garry. We did not enter 
the Danish harbor to the north of the village, for it was 
too small ; but both ships anchored in the fiord off the 
town. As a matter of course we got adrift, and the 

30 



466 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

Thetis slipped her cable and lost an anchor and sixty 
fathoms of chain to avoid a collision with the Bear. It 
is always preferable, if there be but one or two ships, to 
anchor in the Danish harbor ; but in the fiord there is 
also a ten-fathom bar which affords fair holding ground. 
To prevent dragging, the anchor should be dropped to 
the southward and westward of the bar, which is located 
about half a mile up the fiord from the town. 

Landing our crazy Esquimau, we departed from Uper- 
navik at six P. M., and stood out towards Disco, scraping 
one of the islands as we passed. The Bear kept in mid- 
channel, where there is water enough, and did not touch. 
The better passage going south is between the islands 
and the main toward the south or southwest ; and con- 
trariwise, going north, the proper way is along shore to- 
wards the north and westward, avoiding the channel be- 
tween the little islands just off the harbor, unless the 
vessel is kept straight in mid-channel. 

The water was now entirely open and clear, and we 
did not encounter any ice from Upernavik to St. John's, 
saving the bergs, to be sure, which were numerous ; but 
as it was constant daylight, these occasioned us no trou- 
ble. We celebrated the Fourth of July at sea with a 
capital dinner, but in a miserable snow and hail-storm. 
The next morning we arrived at Lievely, God-Haven. 
Disco Island was clad in its summer garb ; the ice had 
left its harbor, the snow had melted from its hills, and 
the mountain sides were rich with purple flowers and 
green mosses. All the inhabitants were out sunning 
themselves, and the hyack men flocked like ducks around 
the ship trucking their articles of trade. I purchased a 
full-size hjack and some eider quilts and clothing. 

The body of Frederic Christiansen, the courageous Es- 
quimau of Greely's party, was here placed in a coffin 
covered with blue cloth and bearing a brass name-plate. 
At two P. M. the officers and crews of the other vessels 



THE RETURN VOYAGE. 467 

came alongside of the Bear, and the coffin, guarded by- 
four pall-bearers, was towed ashore in one of the cutters 
to the little landing-place, where the inspector, the gov- 
ernor, and most of the natives were congregated to re- 
ceive it. A salute having been fired from the three-gun 
battery, the coffin, now covered with the American Jack, 
was laid upon a bier that had been made on board the 
Bear ; and the poor Esquimaux buried it beneath crosses 
and wreaths of wild-flowers and blue heather gathered 
from their native hills. The cortege then advanced in 
military order to the little church, where the body was 
placed in front of the chancel, and the inspector made a 
clever address in English. He received from the hands 
of the American Government the body of the faithful 
Esquimau, who, he said, had nobly died doing his duty 
by the people whom he had engaged to serve, and whose 
memory, he knew, would live on and be kept green by 
the good feeling of the two governments. The governor 
next addressed the natives in a similar vein in their own 
tongue, after which the Lutheran Church service was 
conducted by a native preacher, the Esquimaux congre- 
gation singing a psalm. The body was then carried to 
the cemetery and interred with military honors. 

That same morning poor Ellison died, and his remains 
were bandaged and placed like the others in an alcohol 
tank for conveyance to the United States. 

Here the machinery of the Alert met with an accident, 
slight, but in one of its vital parts, which detained us sev- 
eral days, but meanwhile we coaled our ships and got 
ready for the passage to St. John's. We found excellent 
cod-fishing in the harbor, and from the number caught I 
should think that the villagers, if diligent, could capture 
a sufficient food supply for their support from the sea 
alone. The hyack men brought many fine large salmon- 
trout for sale, that had been taken from the cool water 
at the glaciers. They were a splendid fish, weighing 



468 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

from two to four pounds, spotted and beautifully marked, 
with flesh of a bright -red salmon color. The head is 
sharp, with a protruding lower jaw, and altogether the 
fish has the appearance of being very choice game to 
take. 

We cleared from Disco on the morning of July 9th ; 
and there were doubtless some among us who with pleas- 
ure bade a final farewell to " Greenland's icy moun- 
tains." I did not; but, quite otherwise, felt a strong 
reluctance at leaving this land of wonders, which, long 
before the time of Columbus, was visited by the Norse- 
men, and which ever since has continued a land of ad- 
venture and conjecture ; and I hope sincerely it will not 
be the last time I shall see its ice-crowned peaks or green 
and purple valleys. There is still a great and important 
work to be done in studying the glaciers of Melville Bay 
and North Greenland, — the former having never been 
charted or even surveyed except from a distance — and 
exploring the Terra Incognita from Lockwood's farthest 
down the east coast of Greenland to the highest point 
attained by the German expedition under Koldeway. 

There was nothing eventful in our passage to St. 
John's. We experienced no extraordinary wind or sea — 
nothing but thick foggy weather, which rendered our en- 
trance to the harbor a difficult one. There we arrived, 
however, on the morning of July 17th, and instantly the 
telegraph announced to the civilized world the return of 
our expedition with the dead and living of Greely's com- 
mand. 

It now became necessary for the proper preservation 
of the remains that they be placed in hermetically-sealed 
metallic coffins, but such as we wished could not be pro- 
cured at St. John's. This contingency had been fore- 
seen, and drawings for the casting and proper fitting of 
cast-iron caskets had been prepared on board ship ; but as 
the foundry and machine facilities at St. John's were in- 



THE RETURN VOYAGE. 469 

adequate to perform the work in time, caskets were made 
of one-tenth inch boiler-iron riveted to angle-iron frame- 
work with lids bolted on. They were thus neat, light, 
serviceable, and perfectly air-tight, and to each one six 
polished handles were attached for convenience in trans- 
portation, and a silver plate was fixed on each casket 
inscribed with the name of the corpse and the date of 
death. When the bodies were removed from the alcohol 
tanks, particular care was taken to identify them, and 
each number, which was stamped on a tin tag and fas- 
tened to the remains, was buried with it. Hence no mis- 
take could possibly have been made. 

And here it may be of interest to record the names of 
the party, with the death dates of the poor victims : — 

Sergeant Wm. H. Cross, general service; died Jan. 18, 1884. 

Frederic Christiansen, Esquimau, 

Sergeant David Lynn, general service, 

1st Lieut. Jas. B. Lockwood, 23d Infantry, 

Sergeant Geo. W. Rice, special service, 

Jans Edwards, Esquimau (drowned), 

Sergeant W. F. Jewell, special service, 

Private Wm. A. Ellis, 2d Cavalry, 

" Wm. Whistler, 9th Infantry, 
Sergeant David Ralston, special service, 

" Edward Israel, " 

1st Lieut. Fred. F. Kislingbury, 11th Infan- 
try, 
Corporal Nicholas Sailer, 2d Cavalry, 
Surgeon Octave Pavy, 
Private Chas. B. Henry, 5 th Cavalry, 

" Jacob Bender, 9th Infantry, 
Sergeant H. S. Gardiner, special service, 
Private R. K. Snyder, 1st Artillery, 
Sergeant Joseph Ellison, 10th Infantry, 
(On board the Bear at Disco.) 



April 


4, 


u 


a 


6, 


u 


a 


9, 


a 


a 


9, 


n 


a 


10, 


a 


a 


12, 


a 


May 


19, 


a 


« 


21, 


u 


a 


22, 


it 


a 


27, 


a 


rune 


1, 


« 


a 


2, 


a 


a 


6, 


a 


ti 


6, 


a 


a 


6, 


a 


a 


12, 


a 


(t 


19, 


u 


July 


7, 


a 



470 THE GREELY RELIEF EXPEDITION. 

The survivors are : — 

1st Lieut. A. W. Greely, 5th Cavalry ; 
Sergeants Brainerd, Fredericks, and Long ; 
Hospital Steward Biderbeck ; 
Private Maurice Connell. 

The scientific value of the work accomplished by these 
men, living and dead, can only be estimated after their 
observations have been compiled and computed, com- 
pared and applied — all of which will involve years of 
patient toil. 

We left St. John's July 26th for Portsmouth, N. H., 
where we arrived August 1st, and where the cruise of 
our rescue ships virtually ended. 

We were received by the Secretary of the Navy and 
the entire North Atlantic fleet and practice squadron ; 
and the inhabitants of Portsmouth tendered us a royal 
welcome. Here we transferred Greely and his command 
to the care of the Navy Yard, but afterward the bodies 
of the dead were returned to us for delivery to General 
W. S. Hancock at Governor's Island, New York Harbor. 

Sailing then from Portsmouth on the morning of Au- 
gust 5th, we reached New York on the morning of the 
9th and discharged our last expeditionary duty in surren- 
dering the remains of the heroic dead into the tender 
custody of their comrades of the army. 



A PROPOSED METHOD 



REACHING THE NORTH POLE. 



1 Let the stately Polar bears 
Waltz around the Pole in pairs, 
And the walrus, in his glee, 
Bare his tusk of ivory; 
While the bold sea-unicorn 
Calmly takes an extra horn ; 
All ye Polar skies, reveal your 
Very rarest of parhelia ; 
Trip it, all ye merry dancers 
In the airiest of ' Lancers ; ' 
Slide, ye solemn glaciers, slide, 
One inch further to the tide, 
Nor in rash precipitation 
Upset Tyndall's calculation. 
Know you not what f ate^ awaits you, 
Or to whom the future mates you ? 
All ye icebergs make salaam, — 
You belong to Uncle Sam! " 

Bret Hartb. 



Without entering into the question of the utility of 
Polar exploration, which has been so thoroughly dis- 
cussed by the scientific societies of the world, and uni- 
versally passed upon by press and people with widely 
different results, I will state at once my theory of the 
proper means and way of reaching the North Pole. 

Many modes of travel have been proposed, — by ship, 
balloon, dog and deer-sleds, and by boat, not to dwell 
upon a variety of submarine vessels, which, in fancy, are 



472 A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 

made to dive beneath the ice in an easy-going manner, 
and reappear in open places to blow like whales or wal- 
rus, — but the detailed plans of which I have never had 
the pleasure of seeing. With all of our modern appli- 
ances, we have been able to make no further " northing " 
than did the old Dutch navigators three hundred years 
ago, for the approach to the Pole has been steadily 
barred in about the same latitude. This is not because 
our means or men are faulty or less fearless, but simply 
because that impenetrable ice-barrier, against which so 
many stout hearts have forced their ships in vain, floats, 
as it will forever, between the Arctic explorer and his 
goal. Vessels cannot go through it or around it, and 
were the power of all the steamships in the world con- 
centrated in one ship, it could not push the ice aside and 
make the passage to the Pole. Nor is it probable that 
any ship or other locomotive machine will be devised to 
cross over the ice. 

I have heard considerable talk of the proper shape, 
strength, and material of which Polar cruisers should be 
built, chiefly from people who have never been in the ice 
of the Arctic seas, and who have a very faint idea of the 
flotative capacity of bodies. A moment's reflection, and 
it will occur to every one that, for a body to float at all, 
its specific gravity must be less than that of water ; and 
that, to resist the crushing strain of ice, it must be more 
tenacious and solid than ice. And here the problem pre- 
sents itself, — could a vessel of such construction (lighter 
than ice) withstand the enormous pressure ? I think 
not, even though it were " built in solid." 

II. 

Suppose a ship constructed in the shape of a parabolic 
spindle, its greatest transverse diameter thirty feet, and 
its length, say two hundred feet. This would give a 
body of fine lines, good rising power, if nipped below its 



A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 473 

greatest diameter, and for speed and strength be an ac- 
knowledged model. Now build this spindle solid, — that 
is, without an inner hold wherein to store men or pro- 
visions,— and of buoyant material, hooping it like a mast 
with iron or steel bands so arranged with reference to 
number and weight that the spindle will float in the man- 
ner of ice, or about one eighth part above water. Yet 
even this pattern of strength would be an egg-shell in the 
power of the mighty moving masses of ice, never at rest, 
but always grinding like the everlasting gods, and grind- 
ing exceeding fine even the granite hills and islands. 

From various causes there is a constant drift of all free 
floating bodies from the Poles towards the Equator. In 
the Antartic Ocean, we find a constant procession of ma- 
jestic bergs drifting north, until they are dissolved by 
the warm current that sets to the southeast from the 
Equator, the counterpart, though in the opposite direc- 
tion, of the Gulf Stream, which forces its way to the 
northward and eastward. 

Whether the cause may be the inflowing warm cur- 
rents forcing the ice from the Poles towards the Equator, 
or the centrifugal force that influences loose objects on 
the surface of a sphere rotating on its axis, to which was 
originally attributed the flattening of the earth at the 
Poles, I will not attempt to decide. It is sufficient for us 
to know that such is the fact ; that the ice of the Polar 
regions is continually being carried towards the Equator, 
winter and summer, though much more rapidly in sum- 
mer time, and that it moves much faster on the outskirts 
of the Polar ice - fields than at the Poles. Within the 
latitudes of 70° and 80° N. we find the southerly drift 
swifter, because of the loose condition of the ice to the 
southward, than we might be led to expect it would be 
at 85° or 90° N. ; and here arises a question on which, to 
a great extent, will depend the practicability of reaching 
the Pole. If my premises are right, there can be no 
doubt of my ability to do so. 



474 A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 

The flattening of the earth at the Poles is admitted 
by all scientists, and from the formation of the earth, 
and by meteorological observations taken near the Poles, 
a lower barometric pressure is universally conceded. 
Whether this partial vacuum is caused by the rotation 
of the earth on its axis causing the currents of air to rise 
from the shoulders of this earth, tangent to the earth's 
surface (which, in truth, is an ellipsoid instead of a 
sphere), still remains a mooted question among the 
scientists of the world, and is one of the problems of 
which we hope to find a solution by reaching the Pole. 
Enough for my premises to know that these axioms are 
fully established. 

The ice-cap, then, that covers the earth's surface at the 
Pole is held in place by the projecting islands which 
doubtless extend directly to the Pole, for in the history 
of Polar exploration each successive advance to the north 
has revealed new islands extending in small groups or 
chains towards the Pole ; and the evidence of all Arctic 
explorers has been that they saw sea-birds and water- 
fowl still winging their northward flight, presumably to- 
wards the yet undiscovered islands dotting the path to 
the Pole, there to breed in quietness and safety on the 
land as yet untrodden by the foot of man. This nucleus 
of pointed island peaks, if nothing more, will hold the ice 
fast at the Pole ; and if we have the partial vacuum cov- 
ering the flattened portion of the earth's surface around 
the Pole, and the air currents swirling in space above it, 
we should consequently have all the air motion above 
the earth's surface, and a comparative calm on the sur- 
face itself. Or, in other words, we would not have the 
gales necessary to drive the ice towards either outlet, 
and as the centrifugal influence is acting equally in 
all directions, and tending to pull the ice-cap towards 
the Equator, it can only carry away those detached por- 
tions of ice broken near the outskirts of the ice-cap ; or, 



A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 475 

say, that portion that lies to the southward of about 85° 
N. latitude, where we find the southerly drift almost too 
rapid to march upon with any prospect of reaching the 
Pole. But after crossing the eighty-fifth degree of lati- 
tude, if my premises are right, the traveler will come to 
that immovable ice-cap which will, in all probability, 
prove to be a paleocrystic sea of ice and snow. If so, 
instead of having the terrible chaotic mass of ice de- 
scribed by Commander Markham and Sir George Nares, 
we should have a clear unbroken surface to travel upon, 
subject, of course, to fissures and shrinkage cracks. In- 
deed, the very fact that the sea of ice traversed by Mark- 
ham was broken and chaotic is conclusive proof, to my 
mind, that it was in motion and moving out, and by no 
means paleocrystic. 

Having reached the firm ice-cap which covers the earth 
to the north of 85°, the travel will be smooth and easy, 
and the traveler will not be carried south by the current 
faster than he can travel north. 

I therefore consider it impossible to construct a float- 
ing body which will be able to resist the tremendous 
strain of the Polar ice-packs. It might not be crushed 
for weeks or months, but then the contingency might 
arise, on the first day it entered the pack, that two floes 
would close upon and overwhelm it like an almond in 
the jaws of a nut-cracker. For the wonderful potency 
of these floes is incredible, and can only be calculated in 
millions of tons, or rather square miles, of ice, averaging 
twenty-five feet in thickness, or forty feet, where the 
usual winter's growth of ten or twelve feet is rolled up 
into hummocks — and I need not mention the colossal 
floe-bergs one hundred or more feet in height. Telescop- 
ing and piling up, these vast masses form the great gorges 
which only the hydraulic power of nature can move. 
And this is forever occurring, in all seasons of the year, 
though faster in some than in others ; and the countless 



476 A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 

million square miles of ice annually expelled from the 
Arctic Ocean through the three great outlets, — between 
Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, between Spitzbergen and 
the east coast of Greenland, and the course through Baf- 
fin's Bay, — alone prove the fallacy of a " paleocrystic sea 
of ice." 

in. 

Did such a thing as a " paleocrystic sea of ice " ac- 
tually exist, the task of reaching the North Pole would 
be one of comparatively easy accomplishment ; for in win- 
ter a smooth, hard-beaten surface of snow would invite 
the traveler, and in summer a glassy surface of ice, and 
at either time depots of supplies could be laid out at con- 
venient distances, as proposed by many clear -thinking 
persons, or Howgate's colony system be adopted. But, as 
it is, when we leave the land, both plans are impracti- 
cable ; for if we make a depot of supplies on the ice to- 
day, it is gone to-morrow — snowed under, overrun, or 
drifted out of position. The whole appearance of a pack 
may be changed in a day, or it may be so uniform that a 
definite location cannot be made. During the month of 
October, 1879, the Jeannette broke out of her ice-bed, 
and was whirled along an open lead for a few hours. 
We left a canvas structure on the floe, under the lee of 
a hummock, and for nearly a year and a half we looked 
for it unavailingly, albeit the ship had moved but a few 
miles. Finally it was discovered by one of our Indians, 
who returned to tell us, one day, in a state of trepida- 
tion, that he had found a " two-man house," for he really 
failed to recognize the spot alongside of which we had 
lain for a month. Similarly, on the evening of the same 
day the ship broke loose, Alexia shot and killed a bear, 
which, despite our constant endeavors, was never found ; 
for in all this while the entire ice-pack had drifted nearly 
five hundred miles into the northwest, and had swung 
around in a zigzag course more than one thousand miles. 




CIRCUMPOLAR MAP SHOWING MELVILLE'S PRO 

HIGHEST POIN" 




Struther*. ServoM & 0>., Engr"e. N. V. 



ED ROUTE; THE DRIFT OF THE JEANNETTE; 
EACH ED, ETC. 



A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 477 

And so I iterate that depots made upon the ice are 
fugitive and utterly unreliable. 

IV. 

By observing, however, the drift and discharge of the 
ice, it may be possible to make good use of it on the re- 
treat if not on the advance. The southerly ice-drift is 
well known, — down through Baffin's Bay and between 
Spitzbergen and Greenland. It was against this latter 
current that the gallant Parry marched so persistently 
for weeks, only to be thrown back upon his ship at the 
northern point of Spitzbergen. 

The drift between Nova Zembla and Spitzbergen, al- 
though not so well traced as the others, has yet been sat- 
isfactorily observed along the east coast of the latter 
island, which is almost inaccessible because of the huge 
masses of ice heaped upon its shores, and the drift-wood 
which for ages has been accumulating from the great Si- 
berian rivers. This drift continues down between the 
southern end of Spitzbergen and Bear Island, where a 
shoal has grown from the dropping of the stones and dirt 
from the floes as they jam and grind along. A study of 
the current charts of the Arctic Ocean, and the course in 
which the Jeannette drifted for twenty-two months, as 
well as the last drift of the Thegetoff, when she brought 
up on the island of Wilczek, to the southward of Franz 
Josef Land (all of which territory was discovered and 
charted by the two most determined and heroic explorers, 
Weyprecht and Payer), — a study of these charts will 
show that had the Jeannette held together, she doubtless 
would have drifted out into the Atlantic Ocean, either to 
the southward of Franz Josef Land and along the east 
coast of Spitzbergen, passing safely out, or else being 
crushed and cast upon the shore along with other drift- 
wood ; or, rounding the north end of Franz Josef Land, 
she would have drifted down with the familiar current 
between Spitzbergen and Greenland. 



478 A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 

V. 

The northeast coast of Greenland has never been ex- 
plored, and but little is known of the currents along its 
face. Nor has any considerable amount of drift-wood 
ever been seen floating from the coast of Siberia on the 
current which runs south along the shores of Greenland, 
or on the current which impinges against the northern 
coast of Spitsbergen. Here, then, is negative evidence 
that there is no passage around the northern end of Franz 
Josef Land, which must consequently be a large conti- 
nent, or chain of islands reaching to, or well up towards, 
the Pole. 

In either case this is now the way to the North Pole. 
It has been fully demonstrated by Weyprecht and Payer 
in their ships, the Isbiorn (Ice-bear) and Thegetoff, like- 
wise by their escape in boats, and by Leigh Smith's sub- 
sequent voyages in his summer yacht, that the southern 
coast of Franz Josef Land is yearly accessible by 
steamer, and that, in case of emergency, retreat is easy 
and sure. 

Now if Franz Josef Land extends to 85° north lati- 
tude, the Pole is within our reach, — if it extends farther 
into the north, so much the better. A series of depots 
can be established on the land as far as it goes, and a 
march of ten degrees, that is, five to the Pole and five 
back, is by no means beyond the power of human endur- 
ance. Let the state of the ice be as it may, it certainly 
can be no worse than the broken path over which the 
Jeannette's crew marched from the point where the ship 
sank to the mouth of the Lena, a distance of five hun- 
dred miles, — only one hundred miles less than the pro- 
posed journey from 85° north latitude to the Pole and 
return. 

All this, to be sure, is upon the supposition that Franz 
Josef Land extends as far north as 85°. We have no 



A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 479 

positive assurance that this is so, but it has been explored 
to about 83°, and still stretched northward as far as the 
eye could reach, which, on high ground and a clear day, 
was fully sixty miles, or one degree — say to 84°. 

So the first work will be to explore this land to its 
northern limit, and if depots of supplies can be advanced 
as far as 85° north, the feat of marching to the Pole and 
back will, I repeat, be easily practicable. 

VI. 

But what would it avail a man to reach the Pole and 
never return to discover to the world his success ? Hence 
I say " to the Pole and back" and now emphasize that 
word ; for thinking men no longer, if they ever did, act 
upon that reckless dictum, — " Cut yourself off from all 
that is behind you; let your retreat take care of itself." 
And if there are no thinking men to undertake this haz- 
ardous enterprise, it had better be abandoned altogether, 
else it must surely come to grief. 

Now, I clearly see my retreat on this route. There 
can be no doubt of the escape of the Austrian expedi- 
tion, or of Leigh Smith's party, from the south side of 
Franz Josef Land ; and, to make doubly sure this line 
of retreat, I would place supplies and additional boats on 
the Pankratieff Islands to the southward of Cape Nassau, 
Nova Zembla, and at Silver Bay in the western side of 
Matotchkin Strait ; and no boats, but food - supplies, at 
South Goose Cape, where fishing vessels go and return 
every year from June to September, — often as late as 
October. 

The other route that I would propose for the retreat 
of the % party which will essay to reach the Pole is by 
way of Spitzbergen, — should the ice be drifting in a 
proper direction, namely, to the westward, or southward 
and westward. For, in such an event, the same current 
which baffled Parry's efforts will assist and advance the 



480 A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 

party, — floating them homeward when they lie down to 
sleep. 

I would station boats and supplies at Parry's Harbor, 
the northernmost of the Seven Islands, which is almost 
annually accessible, and can be retreated from in boats, 
since the current here is continually setting to the south- 
ward, though more swiftly in summer than in winter. 
However, I would be entirely governed by the state of 
my provisions whether to await the coming of summer, 
or take advantage of the winter drift, as did the crew of 
the Hansa, the Germania's tender, and thus be ready to 
take to the boats in spring, or as soon as I reached open 
water. If the ice moved too fast or too slow to the west- 
ward, with no " southing," I would return to the point 
whence I started, or, should Franz Josef Land stretch far 
into the north, say to 87°, I would retreat upon it. 

VII. 

Concerning the depots of supplies at the points desig- 
nated, I intend that they should be actually placed there 
— not the mere promise of establishing them. For I 
would intrust this duty to intelligent and intrepid officers 
who would execute their orders in the face of all diffi- 
culties. 

Each officer, with a small party, should remain to guard 
his depot from bears, and also to secure a regular series 
of meteorological observations in those high latitudes. 
Only the two main positions, however, would require 
guards, namely, the Pankratieff Islands, off the coast of 
Nova Zembla, and the Seven Islands to the north of 
Spitzbergen. The ship will return home after landing 
the parties, which will consist each of one officer and 
three men, provisioned for four years, and equipped with 
house, sleds, boats, instruments, etc. When three years 
have elapsed these parties are to abandon their posts and 
set out for home in boats provided for that purpose, leav- 



A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 481 

ing the balance of their supplies and boats for the use of 
the main marching party, in case it should retreat that 
way. 

And likewise I would land this main band, consisting 
of one surgeon, two officers, and twenty men, on the 
southern coast of Franz Josef Land ; with house, sleds, 
boats, instruments, and four years' supplies, including a 
sufficient quantity of dried fish for dog-food ; the ship to 
proceed home immediately after discharging its cargo. 

VIII. 

Three good teams of seven or nine dogs each would be 
of great service in advancing supplies to the northern 
border of Franz Josef Land, but the picked company of 
one officer and ten men are to make the grand march to 
the Pole without the aid of dogs ; for though it is true 
that when of no other use they are at least good to eat, 
and may be regarded as so much " meat on the hoof," 
still, in my opinion, they are not economical draught ani- 
mals for a party cut off from its base of supplies. 

It was our experience, on the Jeannette retreat, that a 
dog exacted about one half as much food as a man, and 
performed about one quarter as much work. If a con- 
stant supply of game were assured, the offal would suf- 
fice for the dogs, and yet on a long march I question even 
then if they would be an aid. 

From the pack of twenty-four dogs which left the Jean- 
nette we mustered two good teams of seven dogs each, 
and these for the first couple of weeks were of little or 
no use. Later on, under the guidance of two seamen 
and two natives, they worked fairly well ; but from the 
time the ship was crushed until the dogs were shot or 
lost, the labor performed by them in proportion to the 
labor of the men, expressed in pounds of food (pemmi- 
can) consumed, was less than one tenth, — bearing in 
mind, too, that four of our largest men were steadily em- 
ployed in keeping the sleds upright. 



482 A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 

So, I insist, well - drilled dogs, worked by competent 
drivers such as I had in Siberia, would doubtless be 
of considerable assistance in the transportation of sup- 
plies along the coast of Franz Josef Land, but on the 
long journey across the ice they would simply embar- 
rass the party's progress. 

IX. 

This is my theory of reaching the North Pole — as far 
as I can see, a certain and safe one, attended by no sacri- 
fice of life or property, for it will be remembered that 
the ships are to return as soon as they have unloaded, 
and that each party is provided with every possible means 
of escape. To recapitulate, then, I would have — 

Depots established at designated points, and guarded by 
parties which are to abandon their positions and take care 
of themselves at a specified time ; and an advance party 
on Franz Josef Land furnished with two feasible lines of 
retreat. 

The details of general equipment, sleds, boats, food, 
and the season of year for traveling, I have fully ex- 
amined into, and satisfactorily. 

x. 

And, finally, I propose to prove this theory of reaching 
the North Pole by going there myself. 

Geo. W. Melville, 

Chief Engineer U. S. N. 

When the report first reached this country that Baron 
Nordenskjold would in the summer of 1885 command a 
South Polar expedition under the auspices of the Swed- 
ish Government, certain of Chief Engineer Melville's 
friends, interested in the success of his proposed expedi- 
tion to the North Pole, conceived the idea of simultane- 
ously dispatching the two explorers on their respective 
and kindred missions. 



A METHOD FOR REACHING THE POLE. 483 

With this idea in view the Editor opened a corre- 
spondence with the Baron, inviting him to briefly outline 
the plan of his rumored enterprise for the pages of this 
work. The following reply was received : — 

" Stockholm, April 4, 1884. 
" Honored Sir, — The rumor that I propose to start on a 
South Polar expedition in the summer of 1885 is not exact. 

" I have the greatest interest in Mr. Geo. W. Melville's (U. 
S. N.) new expedition, but it is, unfortunately for me, impossi- 
ble to find the time necessary for directly contributing to your 
new book. Yours most truly, 

"a. e. nordenskjold. 
"Melville Philips, Esq., 

" Philadelphia, N. America." 



APPENDIX. 



THE MELVILLE SLED. 

The main advantages of the Melville sled over all others for 
Arctic travel are its great strength attained by so little addi- 
tional weight, and the facility with which it can be packed and 
will hold its load securely. 

It is impossible to build a sled combining all the advantages 
that a critical novice might exact for Arctic use ; for although 
weight will not necessarily give the maximum of strength, yet 
the minimum of weight can without doubt give the minimum of 
strength, and one element of weakness may destroy its total effi- 
ciency. It is only when his sled breaks down that the Arctic 
traveler realizes how fatal it is to rely upon this argument of a 
minimum weight. 

On the retreat from the scene of the sinking of the Jeannette, 
every sled save the three solid oaken ones was broken in less 
than a week, and even these oaken sleds were many times tem- 
porarily disabled by the turning under of the runners. This 
was the first indication of weakness in the best sled ever used 
for Arctic service (the McClintock) ; and when the cross-bars 
were firmly lashed in order to prevent the turning under of the 
runners, then the top-rails, where they were pierced by the 
tenons of the uprights, were wrenched off or split open from 
mortise to mortise. And this, indeed, proved to be the weak 
point of all the McClintock sleds on our retreat, and it was 
the repairing of them, so that they could perform the work un- 
der which they had broken down, that suggested the idea of the 
" double-bow " and " bow-string " runner of the Melville sled. 
Once, when the top-rail of a sled had split open, a new rail 



486 



APPENDIX. 



made from part of an oar was lashed next the broken one, and 
vertical posts were fastened alongside of the old posts, which in 
turn were lashed together across the top of the load, and it at 
first seemed curious indeed that a broken sled should thus be 
made stronger than a whole one. 

But the reason simply was that we used the vertical post for 
a cantilever, the bow-string of the sled acting as a centre about 
which the lever turned. We likewise observed that the St. 
Michael's native sleds were furnished with a top-rail to support 
the uprights, and that these sleds, though old and dilapidated 
when received on board, nevertheless continued to do a vast 
deal of work, although, it is true, the ship carpenter skillfully 
strengthened them. After our arrival on the Siberian coast I 
rode many thousand miles on native sleds built upon the same 
plan, but of far inferior workmanship, and their stoutness under 
the roughest kind of usage was most extraordinary, for they 
only became disabled by the wearing through of the lashings or 
the unshod runners. 



16" 



14" 



12" 



41 ft. 





n 



Melville One-Man Sled, 
Double bow and string of hickory. Shod with light hoop iron. Iron extends four 
inches on top-rail. One-quarter inch iron rod passes through rear end posts. Cross- 
bearers lashed to runners. Rails mortised and fastened with copper rivets. All super- 
fluous wood to be finished out and the sled varnished. 



APPENDIX. 487 



EQUIPMENT OF ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. 

In answer to a request from the Navy Department, Chief 
Engineer Melville submitted a series of papers on the fitting 
out of the Greely Relief Expedition, wherein he gave at length 
his views upon the proper equipment of Arctic cruisers. 1 



Replying to the first question, — as to what provisions were 
best to lay in store, — he says substantially as follows : — 

It is well to recollect that the natural taste of all prepared 
food should be retained as much as possible, and that goods put 
up in tin cases or canisters should be avoided, not only because 
of the poison imparted to them by the lead in the solder and 
adulterated tin, but also on account of the nauseating gases gen- 
erated in the blackened cans. 

Soups should be of the richest kind, — turtle, mock-turtle, 
ox-tail, vegetable, Philadelphia pepper-pot, and mutton-broth. 
None of these, however, should be the soup pure and simple as 
prepared for the market, but should be the " stock " of which 
the soup is made, stored in small wooden casks. Fresh meats 
and poultry of all kinds should be cut in good sizes and roasted, 
and then packed in fifty-pound casks and covered with hot lard 
or refined gelatine. The poultry, roasted in the usual manner, 
should be split open longitudinally, to admit of closer stowage. 
Oysters (fried) can be barreled in the same way ; while stewed 
oysters for pies (a favorite dish with the Jeannette people) can 
be put up in kegs or stone jars. 

Fried potatoes — not " Saratoga chips," which have all the 
nutriment cooked out of them, but potatoes quartered, and 
underdone — can likewise be stored and covered with hot lard, 
and it will be seen that this is a convenient way of carrying the 
lard, which can all be used again. Boiled potatoes with their 
"jackets" on, fresh carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc., can be 
similarly preserved, and eggs done up in small packages and 
covered with scalding lard will keep indefinitely. Salted or 

1 The plans of a model Arctic cruiser designed by Mr. Melville 
while on the Jeannette have already been published. 



488 APPENDIX. 

spiced meats are a wholesome relief from fresh canned food, 
and under this head I would recommend sausage meat, and what 
is known to Philadelphians and Baltimoreans as " scrappel," 
which is simply head -cheese mixed with a quantity of well- 
boiled corn meal and buckwheat, and which, fried like sausage 
meat, is equally palatable and nutritious, having all the good 
qualities of the erbswurst, — a staple food in the German army, 
and an article abundantly supplied to the Austrian Arctic ex- 
pedition. Bologna sausages, boiled eggs, boiled hams, raw 
hams, and sides of bacon, should all be packed in lard and 
placed in store. 

The chief reason for cooking many of these foods before 
packing them is to economize the fuel account of the galley. 
It would be well, for variety's sake, to lay in a moderate supply 
of cooked corned beef (not salt beef), in tubs. Clean pork, in 
half barrels, to be cooked with beans or sauer kraut, and pig's 
jowl, in one quarter casks, would likewise be a most welcome 
accession to the ship's larder. Oatmeal, maccaroni, and corn 
starch should not be forgotten, nor — in the list of compressed 
vegetables — beans, lima beans, green peas, whole hominy, 
split peas, rice, and corn meal. But desiccated potatoes should 
be shunned, for on both the Arctic ships in which I have 
served, it was impossible for the ingenuity of the cooks to 
render them relishable. 

Fresh bread is a necessity once or twice a day, and hence 
first class flour and good yeast are requisite ; but as here again 
the economy of fuel comes into consideration, a variety of dry 
baked sugar-cakes should be supplied in lieu of hard bread, 
thus affording the crew a change of diet, and an antiscorbutic in 
the shape of the sugar. Pails of peach and apple butter, pre- 
pared pumpkins for pies, mince-meat in tubs, plum-pudding in 
jars or cans, — all these are not only toothsome but antiscor- 
butic. Pickles of every kind, including cabbage, and whole 
onions in casks filled up with equal quantities of water and 
vinegar, are an excellent provision, as we of the Jeannette had 
cause to know. Nor should I forget to enumerate butter, 
cheese, and syrups. 

Tea, coffee, and chocolate might be supplemented at dinner 
by a half pint ration of claret, both as an antiscorbutic and a 




W •= 



o S 

o <u 
-fl fa 



o a 

o cS 

M 00 






a -* 



APPENDIX. 489 

most agreeable addition to the bill of fare. Lime juice comes 
properly under the head of medicines, but when mixed with 
sugar and water it also becomes a pleasant beverage. I can- 
not advise spirits or wines of high alcoholic standard, yet I do 
know that, on the Jeannette, when each officer and man was 
given about three ounces of sherry wine with his dinner, it 
seemed more palatable, and the company became brighter, con- 
versation was more sprightly, and general good-humor prevailed 
in the plaqe of silence and gloom. On Wednesday evenings 
two ounces of American whiskey, with sugar and candied lemon 
peel for punch, were handed round to officers and men, enliven- 
ing all, and that day became the red-letter one of the week. 
There was not enough alcohol in the allowance to enervate us, 
while the capital effect in manner, speech, and good-fellowship 
would be noticeable for days. 

Sauces of every description should be supplied in liberal 
quantities, to make as tempting as possible the food, whose 
sameness, though daily changed, will surely and quickly pall 
upon the crew. 

It will thus be seen that substantial and nutritious food is the 
kind required, and that persons whose habits have been such 
that they cannot digest it are unfit for Arctic work. So that 
while preparing food for the Arctic voyager, the voyager him- 
self should be selected to suit the food. A diet of cream-puffs 
and marmalade would not yield the stamina and bodily heat 
required for life in high latitudes. 

ii. 

And as to the query, — " What quantity of each kind of food 
will be needed per day for each man ?." 

It will be a variable quantity, dependent upon the quality. 
Then, too, the stomach, for comfort, exacts distention as well as 
nourishment. 

While on the retreat after the Jeannette went down, our 
rations were one pound and a quarter of pemmican, half a 
pound of hard bread, beef tea, sugar, and tea or coffee, making 
in all about two pounds of food per man ; and we found the al- 
lowance ample. Some of us experienced at times a sense of 
repletion, others could have eaten more, but the question is, 



490 APPENDIX. 

could they have assimilated it ? I think not ; for though we 
trained down to rather light weights, it must be borne in mind 
that the work we were performing demanded an exhaustive ex- 
penditure of strength. Therefore, it is my opinion that on the 
march a ration of two pounds would be plenty, providing it con- 
sists of hard bread and pemmican. On board ship, however, 
each man should be given about four pounds of all kinds of 
food. De Long's provision book shows as large rations as seven 
and a quarter pounds ; but then the greater part of this food 
was not eaten, because of its disagreeable taste and odor. 

By four pounds of food I mean solid food, as served on the 
table, including condiments, — not as it is issued from the store- 
room. 

in. 

" As to variety." — The greater the better. It cannot reach 
too wide a range, and should only be limited by the storage 
capacity of the ship. 

IV. 

" As to the best manner of packing the provisions." — I have 
proposed wooden casks of different sizes bound with iron bands, 
and they should of course be air-tight, thoroughly cleaned, and 
coated with refined glue. 

Glass and stone jars are too fragile and heavy ; whereas the 
wooden casks, when emptied of their contents, may be used for 
fuel. Such provisions as are free of acids or alkalies can for 
convenience be packed in tin cans, — which, however, should be 
made of and sealed with pure tin, since it is a well-known fact 
that a single duck-shot dissolved in a bottle of claret may have 
as deadly an effect upon the human body as when fired from a 
gun. 

All casks and packages should be made with an air-space, so 
that they will float if cast into the sea. This can be accom- 
plished by fitting a double head upon one end of each cask, 
with an empty space between ; and for ease in handling, a ring 
should also be attached, and no package should exceed fifty 
pounds in weight. 



APPENDIX, 491 



In answer to the question, — " What improvements can be 
made in the usual cooking apparatus ? " — it will be easier for 
me to state what would not do than what would. 

Any cooking-stove with a capacity for thirty or forty men 
would be better than the galley (small navy pattern) which we 
had on the Jeannette. Two cooks in succession, whom we 
shipped at San Francisco, deserted their posts because of it, at 
least this was their excuse; and only by employing the pa- 
tience of a Chinaman were we enabled to use it to the end. 

As I do not know of any particular make of galley which 
meets with my approval, I would propose two large kitchen 
ranges set back to back, and discharging their gases into one 
common flue. This arrangement will economize the consump- 
tion of fuel, and at the same time offer two fire-places, either 
one of which can be used, or both when necessary. Water- 
backs can moreover be utilized to great advantage to melt ice 
or snow for general purposes. 

These ranges would dispense with the necessity for a sheet- 
iron baking oven ; yet if one be desired I would recommend an 
oven of just sufficient size to bake the bread for the ship's com- 
pany ; with one flue or a pair of flues set on top of the galley 
over one or two of the fire-holes, so as to permit the heated 
gases to pass up and around the oven, and be delivered into the 
galley pipe through an adjustable flue. The bread oven, again, 
may be used on the berth deck as a heater. 



In the matter of clothing, I would advise for summer travel, — 
A suit of red flannel underclothes, woolen stockings (first- 
class) to reach above the knees ; heavy cloth trousers, either fit- 
ting tight from the knees down, or knee-breeches, so that the 
moccasin legs will come over them ; and they should not have 
fly-fronts, but button up squarely to keep out the cold, and be 
upheld by a waist-belt, not too wide. 

The moccasins should be oil-tanned without hair, — what are 
known as " water-boots," with one canvas and six inner soles. 
A pair of blanket foot-nips is necessary, — hay is sometimes 



492 APPENDIX. 

used, but not always procurable ; and a pair of rubber sandals, 
with toe and heel guards and strap across the instep, will save 
the moccasin soles in summer. These sandals should have a 
large diamond mesh or rough surface, similar to that of a rubber 
door-mat. 

A blue flannel overshirt with neckerchief; a fur cap with 
ear-laps, a guard for the back of the neck, and an extensive 
visor to protect the face ; and a " lammie," a short close-fitting 
cloth and lined coat coming to the hips, closed in front, and 
furnished with two breast-pockets, — complete the outfit. 

To prevent taking cold when halting at night, each man 
should be provided with a fur jacket, knee-trousers, and a sleep- 
ing-bag, winter or summer. A sheath knife is indispensable ; 
and in a small rubber bag he should also carry one pair of 
socks, one pair of foot-nips, 1 one undershirt, one pair of drawers, 
some patches and sewing material. Moreover, for general ser- 
vice, one jacket and a pair of trousers should be kept in the 
boat; and likewise an abundance of navy flannel for under- 
clothing. 

On board ship each person should sleep on a double blanket 
and have two pairs over him ; on the march a half-blanket and 
a sleeping-bag will suffice. A tent is necessary for winter travel, 
but in summer it may be dispensed with, and the boat-cover and 
sail used for shelter instead. 

1 The foot-nips are made of blanket stuff, in the manner of ankle- 
buskins. 



INDEX 



Abonasshi, 303. 

Achin, " Paddy," description of, 207 ; he 

performs wonders, 231, 233, 349, 352, 

356. 
Aimee, 373. 

Ajaket, the village of, 236, 316. 
Alanek, the river, 307, 345-361 ; the village, 



Alaska Fur Company, 2, 3. 

Albert, Cape, 415. 

Aldan, the river, 376, 377, 384, 385. 

Alert, the, presented to U, S. by British 

Government, 420, 429, 463, 465, 467. 
Aleutian Group, the, 2. 
Alexander III., Czar, receives us, 410-413 ; 

the Czarina, 412 ; Alexander II., 410. 
Alexia, 3, 5, 8, 15, 183, 194. 330, 332, 339, 

340, 464, 476. 
Alexoff, Simeon 300. 
Alock, Simeon, 348-350, 365. 
Ambler, Dr. , investigates sickness on board 

the Jeannette, 15 ; his cordiality, 25, 33, 

51, 194, 199, 332-335, 337. 
Amenack, 426. 
Ames, Dr., 451, 452, 456. 
Andersen, Inspector Alfred, 424, 427, 467. 
Androsouff, Ivan, 177. 
Androuski, 295 ; Mrs. 296. 
Anutchin, Governor- General, 397. 
Aqueton Pass, the, 2. 
Archangel, 248, 258, 398. 
Arctic Expeditions, equipment of, 487-492. 
Arctic, the whaler, 428-443. 
Arii, 104, 139, 145, 209, 297, 307, 308, 311, 

348, 366. 
Artzibucheff, the exile, 258. 
Ash, ice-pilot, 452. 

Athol, Cape, 417. 

Aurora, the whaler, 429-443. 

Baffin's Bay, 422, 427, 476, 477 . 

Ballok, the hut, 201. 

Balopan, 93 ; description of a, 115-121, 175, 

189 ; Malinki Starry, 195. 
Balogan Amerkanski, at Jamaveloch, 126, 

141; atBelun,168; at Yakutsk, 272, 280, 

286, 385. 
Barchuck, 205, 365. 
Barkin, Cape, orders to proceed to, 62, 73- 

75 ; in a quandary about, 78-80, 308, 347, 

349, 334, 365. 
Barrow, Cape, 88, 415. 

Bartlett, fireman, 79, 102, 127, 128, 168, 
275, 278,281, 283, 291, 298, 312, 315, 324, 
328, 337, 338, 343, 348, 349, 363, 364, 367, 
371, 375, 385, 388, 395. 



Bath, a remarkable Russian, 259-261; the 

Yakut mouth bath, 196. 
Batter Arack, 372. 
Bear, the steamer, 420-422, 427, 429, 430, 

431, 435, 437 ; racing, 441-443, 449, 451, 

459, 462, 463, 465-467. 
Bear Island, 477- 
Behring Strait, Jeannette passes through, 

4, 251. 
Belcur, 373. 
Belun, arrival at the village of, 163, 247, 

286. 
Bennett Island, 43, 206. 
Bennett. Jas. Gordon, 22, 166, 370. 
Berry, Lieutenant R. M., 367, 374, 380, 382, 

385, 388, 393, 397, 398, 402, 410-412. 
Berry Islands, 422, 429, 432. 
Bidara, the, 4. 
Bieshoff, the Cossack Commandant, first 

meeting with, 170, 287-294. 
Blacksmith, the Little, 251, 395. 
Bones, a cache of, 222 ; breakfasting on, 

226. 
Boone, Colonel, the lion-tamer, 407. 
Boos Byral, the, 112, 257, 202. 
Borkhia, 363 ; the Bay of, 74, 297, 298, 371, 

3/2, 
Borkhia, Little, 93, 312. 
Boyd, 194, 332, 338. 
Brainerd, Sergeant, 452. 
Brevoort Island, 450, 451, 459. 
Bride, a Yakut, 195. 

Browne, the, or Berry Islands, 422, 429. 
Buali,Dr., the exile, 237 ; his pitiful story, 

254 285. 
Bubokoff,'Capt. Constantine, 277, 281, 283, 

2S6, 315, 338, 339, 351, 377, 385. 
Bukoffski Moose, 75, 290, 298, 304, 311, 323, 

350, 365, 368. 
Bulcour, the hut Where Nindemann and 

Noros were found, 144, 165, 168, 175, 221, 

228, 229, 288, 364. 
Bulcur, 372. 
Bumagas, two precious, 192-194 ; a Yakut 

bumaga, 348, 349. 
Buruloch, the deer-station, 160, 233, 288, 

289, 363. 
Butter, a twenty-pound drink of melted, 

317. 

Cacuska, 278. 

Camp Clay, 420 ; scenes at, 452-459, 462. 

Capello, Dr., 118, 273, 274. 

Capiocan, 106, 107, 310, 311, 328, 337, 342- 

349. 
Carpuff, the Lieutenant of Police, 271. 



494 



INDEX. 



Cary Islands, 445, 449. 

Cass Carta, 187, 287, 288-291, 304-323, 336- 

338, 348, 365. 
Cathedral of St. Isaacs, the, 410. 
Catherine of Russia, 405. 
Chagra, Nicolai, the Starosti of Janiave- 

loch, 110, 114, 128, 138, 294-299 ; Mrs. 

Chagra, 123, 265, 3u3. 
Chambers, Ensign W. J., 4°2. 
Chandler, W. E., Secretary of the Navy, 

mutilated telegram from, 392, 417-420, 

422, 470. 
Chanker, 354, 355. 
Chipp, Lieutenant, 5, 8, 17. 30, 41, 44, 46, 

49, 54, 65, 246, 287, 334, 345, 355, 363, 364, 

372, 374, 380, 388, 436. 
Chogen, 322. 
Christian, Hans, 425. 

Christiansen, Frederic, burial of, 466, 467. 
Chudleigh, Cape, 419. 
Chul-Boy-Hoy, 308, 309, 365, 366. 
Cocked Hat Island, 451. 
Coffins, Yakut, 366 ; metallic., for the dead 

of Greely "s party, 468, 469. 
Cole, Jack, 14, 25, 68-70, 115, 170, 233, 243, 

273, V75. 
Collius, Mr. J. J., 194, 199, 332, 338, 344, 

370. 
Colwell, Jr. Lieutenant, 452. 
Conger, Fort, 415, 421, 448. 
Congress, quarrels over appropriation, 419, 

420 ; $25,000 reward offered by it for 

news of Greely, 429, 434, 439, 445. 
Conical Rock, 444, 445, 449, 463. 
Connell, Private, 456. 
Constantine, the steamer, 390, 391. 
Coperts, 253 ; as professional gamblers, 

292, 293, 389. 
Cornwallis, the whaler, 429-443. 
Cossack, 247, 281 ; a rascally, 368, 376-378. 
Crimea, the, 254. 
Cronstadt, the harbor of, 413. 
Cross, Sergeant, 460. 
Crosses, the place of the three, 179, 181, 

183. 
Czar, the dead, 258. 

Dalrymple Rock, 439. 

Danenhower, Lieutenant, 11, 69, 79, 85, 
95, 137: history of the "first organized 
search," 139, 167, 237, 243, 272, 273; sets 
out for America, 275, 276, 294, 295, 334, 
369, 395. 

Davis Strait, 444. 

De Long, Commander Geo. W.. 5, 25, 28, 29, 
33, 37, 40, 41, 43, 49, 50, 57, 59; last 
talk with, 62, 63, 64, 65, 129, 156 ; 
tidings of, 164-168 ; records left by, 193- 
200, 319 ; finding the body of, 331-337, 
342 ; burial of, 343-345, 364, 365, 370 ; 
transportation of remains to New York by 
Ilarber party, 388, 389, 458. 

De Norpe, Mr., 403. 

Devil's Thumb, the, 439, 465. 

Diomed Islands, the, 4. 

Disco Island, 422, 425-427, 436, 464-468. 

Distances, table of magnificent, 388, 389. 

Divorce, the Yakut law of, 361,362. 

Do-boi-dak, 320. 

Dogs, training, 303. 

Drealer, A., 194, 338. 

Duck Islands, the, 438. 

Dudley Digges, Cape, 444. 



Dunbar, Mr., the ice-pilot, 5, 8, 16, 17, 20, 

23, 24, 30, 33, 34, 44, 51. 
Dunbar, Mr., an enterprising American at 

Nijni Novgorod, 407. 
Duropean, the river, 364, 365. 
Dwee, 373. 

East Cape, 4, 251, 367, 374, 380. 

Economy, an ignoble, 196. 

Egemeude, 426. 

Ekaterinborg, 404, 405; "Hotel European- 
ski," 405. 

Ellison, Sergeant, 455, 457, 464, 465, 467. 

Emma, Cape, 44. 

Emory, Lieutenant, 446. 

Epatchieff , 238, 240, 241, 285-296, 304, 310, 
313, 316, 324. 

Ericksen, 21, 24, 145, 165, 194, 199, 215, 
216, 320, 332, 340, 342. 

Esquimaux, the whaler, 463. 

Esquimaux, the Etah, 429, 464 ; at Saun- 
ders Island, 446; their ingenious sleds, 
447, 448 ; inconstancy of the, 463, 464, 
466, 467. 

Exiles, facts about the Russian, 247-259, 
269, 276, 374, 400, 401 ; double-decked 
barges for, 404, 405 ; railroad cages for, 
406. 

Fairweather, Captain, 440. 

Feodor, 90, 106. 

Fires, Yakut mode of starting, 325-327. 

Fishing, native manner of 130, 131 ; a 

"corner in fish," 291, 292. 
Foulke Fiord, 462. 
Fourth of July, celebrating the, at sea, 

466. 
Fox-skins, 281. 
Foxes, little, the, 353. 
Franklin, Sir John, 1. 
Franz Josef Land, 477-482. 
Fredericks, Sergeant, 452, 456. 
Frisia, the steamer, 389. 

Garfield, President, 242. 

Garlington, Lieutenant, 417, 446, 450, 455. 

Gavirillo, Bobarouski, 362. 

Geese, boned, 106, 113 ; hunting, 132. 

Geordi, Starry, 356, 357. 

Gilder, Pay Clerk of the Rodgers, 350-357, 

367, 368, 377. 385, 397. 
God-Haven, 466. 
Golden Gate, the, 2. 
Golivar compass, 309. 
Good Hope, Cape of, 4. 
Gbrtz, Adolf, 37, 194, 332. 
Gossips, native, 161, 162. 
Governor's Island, 470. 
Greely, Lieutenant A. W., 414-418, 421, 437, 

445 ; Mrs. Greelv, 445, 449, 450, 452, 453, 

455,461,464,468-470. 
Green, Dr. E. II., 42?, 451, 456, 465. 
Greenland, 6, 468, 476-478. 
Greer, Captain Jas., of the Tigress, 419. 
Grist-mills, native, 267. 
Gnmbeck, Captain Joachim, 277, 283-288, 

304, .337, 342, 343, 350, 351, 364, 368, 

389, 390, 398. 
" Growler," the Labrador dog, death of, 440. 
Guestnitsa, the Hotel, 272. 
Guy, Captain, of the Arctic, 428, 443. 

Hackluyt Island, 462. 



INDEX. 



495 



Hancock, General W. S., 470. 

Harber, Lieutenant, 369, 373, 385, 387, 

388. 
Hare Island, 427, 428, 436. 
Harlow, Ensign C. H., 422, 433, 451. 
llansa, the, 48U. 
Hayes, Dr., 462, 464. 
Henrietta Island, the landing on, 12, 17- 

25. 
Henry, Private, 456, 459, 460. 
Herald Island, 6, 8, 367. 
Hildenberger, attentive Mr., 402. 
Hoffman, Colonel Wickham, U. S. charge 

d'affaires at St. Petersburg, 408. 
Horn, Cape, 4. 
Horse's Head, the, 438. 
Howgate's colony system, 476. 
Hunt, Ensign, 380, 388. 
Hunt, Minister, 276, 409-411. 
Hyde, the schooner Fanny A., 3, 4. 

Iberbing, Joe, 464. 

Ice-cap. a Polar, 474, 475. 

Icon, 94, 114, 122, 150, 196. 

Iniguin, joins the Jeaunette, 3, 41, 72, 129 ; 

his sweetheart, 296. 
Inlet, Prince Regent, 439. 
Irjansk, Lieutenant, 385. 
Irkutsk, 275, 367, 369, 391-399 ; the Hotel 

Decco, 392. 
Isabella, Cape, 458. 
Isibiorn, the, 478. 
Isverska, 372. 

" Ivan," the fictitious friend, 392, 400. 
Iversen, N., 165, 194. 

Jackson, John P., 369, 370, 380 ; " Dismal 
John, 1 ' 381, 384, 392, 397. 

Jacobshaven, 426. 

Jamavelock, arrival at the village of, 109, 
291-307, 347, 366-371. 

Jan Maven, the whaler, 463. 

Jana, the river, 246, 251, 264, 288, 298, 
347, 369 ; the Delta, 372, 374, 380. 

Jaolak, 349, 352-354, 361, 362. 

Japan, 1 ; Japanese Islands, 1. 

Jeannette, the departure of from San Fran- 
cisco, 2 ; frozen in, 7 ; in peril, 9, 13 ; she 
goes down, 28-31, 194, 199, 244, 458, 476. 
478, 481. 

Judes, the, 269, 390. 

Jiirgensen, 393, 396. 

Jzere, 316. 

Kaack, H. H., 194, 332, 338-340. 

Kagoastock, the river, 329, 347, 365. 

Kamschatka, 1, 380. 

Kane, Dr., 464. 

Kangerack, stancia, 264, 265, 284, 376, 381. 

Ka-ra-oo-aloch, 298. 

Karinsk, 390. 

Karranie, 93, 105, 106. 

Kasharofski, the Espravnick of Verke- 

ransk, 237, 243-245, 247, 261, 283, 316, 

317, 367. 
Kerick, Starrv, 314 ; Young, 201-203, 314, 

324, 327, 328. 
Ketack, the river, 347, 363. 
Keti (China), 239, 372. 
Kigolak, 313. 351, 352, 363. 
Kingatook, 429, 430. 
King's Island, 5. 
Kiolutian Bay, 4, 6. 



Kolinkin, Peter, 277, 281, 286, 315, 351, 

377, 385. 
Kolyma, the river, 252, 262, 283, 367, 368, 

374. 
Kolymsk, 262. 
Koobalak, 362, 363. 
Koogoolak, 188. 
Kool-Gark-Soak, 373. 
Kotolnoi Island, 50, 53, 55, 56. 
Kremlin, the, at Moscow, 408. 
Kiihne seaman, 31, 55. 
Kuhn, Mr., 403. 
Ku Mark Surt, 157, 172, 232, 288, 291-300, 

304-307, 312-319. 
Kurile Islands, the, 1. 
Kuro-Si-W'o, the, 1, 2. 
Kusma, ( Gerrnayeff), the exile, 135-146; 

injustice done to, 146, 147, 291, 294, 298, 

316, 369. Mrs. Kusma, ]40, 142. 
Kyack, the, 426, 433, 447, 458, 466, 467. 

Labrador, 419. 

Lady Franklin Bay, 415, 421, 430, 453 ; Ex- 
pedition, 414 ; list of the victims of the, 
469. 

La Kentie Shamoola, 193, 201-204, 206, 300, 
303 ; 313-315, 320, 322, 324, 327, 363. 

Lancaster Strait, 419, 440. 

Larsen, Mr., the artist, 370, 380, 397, 402. 

Lauterbach, 85, 98, 102, 110, 122. 

Leach, 68, 71, 96, 98, 102, 110, 122, 127, 
135,143. iiii.., 

Lead-poisoning, 15. 

Ledyard, Dr., 405. 

Lee, W., 194, 332, 338-340, 393-395. 

Lemly, Lieutenant S. C, 422. 

Lempert, Madame, 272, 273, 385. 

Lena, the river, entering the, 77; sailing 
up the, 77-109 ; annual inundations of, 
209, 223 ; the Oshee, 193, 216, 478. 

Leon, M., the exile, 237, 243, 247-252, 285, 
31/. 

Lievely, 425, 466. 

Life-Boat Cove, 416, 448, 462. 

Littleton, Island, 415-418. 421, 429, 440, 
443, 444, 448-450, 457, 462. 

Loch Garry, the iron transport steamer, 
421-424, 427-429, 465. 

Lockwood, Lieutenant, record left hy, 451. 

Long, Sergeant, 452, 453, 456. 

Long Island, 307, 311, 319, 347, 353, 354. 

Loung, M., the exile, 248. 

Lowe, Chief Engineer, 452. 

Lutke, 3. 

Macha, 213, 320-322 ; the Oshee, 320-322. 

Malinki Pope, the, 144, 166, 237. 

Malinki Tomat, 88, 95. 

Malloi, " Pat," 350. h 

Mammoth, the ivory of the, 372. 

Manson, 68, 71. 

Mare Island, 10. 

Markham, Commander, 475. 

Mat Vav, 182, treachery at, 184-186, 223, 

288. 291, 298, 304-307,312, 315, 321, 335- 

337! 
Matotchkin, Strait, 479. 
Maxim Bottono, 372. 
McClintock, Sled, the, 440, 485. 
McGarry Islands, the, 448. 
Melivki 244 

Melville Bay, 422, 438, 442-444, 465, 468. 
Melville's Head, 22. 



496 



INDEX. 



Melville Sled, the, 441, 485, 486. 
Mesja, 320 ; Bulchoi, 320, 324. 
Monument HilL340, 341. 
Mormons, the, 271. 
Moscow, 408. 

Mosquitoes on the Lena River, 387. 
Mud Camp, the, 84. 
Myack, the, 205, 3il, 372. 

Narks, Sir George, 420, 425, 449, 475. 

Narwhal, the whaler, 429-443, 463. 

Nassau, Cape, 479. 

Neptune, the steamer, 415, 419, 449, 450. 

Neva, the river, 258. 

Newcomb, Mr., 83, 84, 95, 102, 125. 

New Siberia, the island of, 50. 

New Siberian Islands, the, 27, 32, 42, 48. 

New York, return of Greely Relief Expe- 
dition to, 470. 

Niantilisk Harbor, 464. 

Nicolai, Geordi, 207,214, 224, 232, 233, 314, 
315, 324, 349, 352-357, 362, 363. 

Nicolai, Starry, 208, 210, 22G, 227, 314, 348. 

Nihilists, the, 244, 248, 257, 258. 

Nijni Kolymsk, 283, 3(37, 374. 

Nijni Novgorod, 281, 403-406 ; the great 
fair at, 407, 408. 

Nindemann, W. P., 144, 145, 163-168, 174- 
178, 183, 187, 194, 215, 216, 219, 238, 275, 
278, 281-286, 315, 319-324, 329-334, 337, 
338, 345-349, 333-366, 371, 375. 

" Noogie recovitsas," 192. 

Nordenskjold, Baron, 4, 5, 6, 277, 482, 
483. 

Norman Lockyer Island, 415. 

Norman, Jas. W., the ice-pilot of the Thetis, 
422, 433, 453, 455. 

Noros, 144, 163-166, 168, 174-178, 183, 194, 
329, 369, 380. 

North Belun, 186, 188, 189-200, 204-210, 
301, 308-314, 347, 363. 

North Star Bay, 416, 446, 463. 

North AVater, the, 439 : entering the, 442, 
443, 449, 463. 

Northumberland Island, 448, 462. 

Norton Sound, 3, 5, 129, 152. 

Norwav, failure of the Relief Expedition 
from, 419. 

Nova Goat, the, 279. 

Nova Zembla, 476, 477. 479, 480. 

Nova Zembla, the whaler, 429-443. 

Obi, the river, 403, 404. 

Obi Bute Yaisia, 213. 

Oceansk, 252, 291, 300, 371-374, 380. 

Olekma, 387. 

Omalai, 300, 307, 391. 

Oo, oo .' 299. 

Oomiak, 4, 462. 

Order, the Administrative, 247. 

Ordono, 312, 313, 365. 

Osoktok, 194, 195, 203, 211-113. 

Palatka, 109, 175, 178, 364. 
Paleocrystic sea of ice, a, 475, 476. 
Pankratieff Islands, the, 479, 480. 
Parker Snow, Cape, 444. 
Parry, Cape, 416, 447-449, 462. 
Parry, Captain, 477, 479. 
Parry's Harbor, 480. 
Parthia, the steamer, 413. 
Pass, the Aqueton, 2. 
Passhin, Gabrillo, 124, 371. 



Patnoggin, Mr. and Mrs. Ivan, 287, 315, 

316, 364. 
Paul, the Emperor, 410. 
Payer, Lieutenant, 477, 478. 
Payer Harbor, 450, 459. 
Pedoshenko, Lieutenant-Governor, 392. 
Penavitch, 253, 264, 272. 
Perm, 406. 

Peter the Great, relics of, 409. 
Peterhof, 410-413. 
Petermann, the German geographer, 78, 

204, 205. 
Petersen, Governor Peter, 424, 427, 467. 
Petowick Glacier, the, 444. 
Petropavlosk, 258, 409. 
Philadelphia, 396. 
Phillips, Captain, 439. 
Pioneer, the steamer, 386, 388. 
Polaris, the, 418, 419 ; old boat-house of, 

448. 
Polaris, Charley, 425. 
Pole, the North, 1, 2, 6 ; proposed method 

for reaching, 471-483. 
Polynia, the whaler, 429-443. 
Pomree Moose, 338 ; dwee pomree, 336. 
Port FouLke, 416, 462. (See Foulke Fiord.) 
Portsmouth, N. II., 470. 
Povaruia, 153, 154. 
Praesnik, 276-282. 
Prince Patrick Land, 6. 
Prince Regent Inlet, 439. 
Pronchishcheff, Lieutenant, finding the 

grave of, 356-360. 
Proteus, the steamer, 415-419, 446, 449. 
Proven, 426, 464. 

Quass, 274. 

Qu Vina, 218, 219, 222, 226, 245, 312, 323, 
337, 351. 

Race, Cape, 423. 

Ray, Lieutenant, 415. 

Red Fiend, the. (See Yapheme Copaloff.) 

Reindeer teams, 159-161 ; native mode of 

hunting, the, 131, 132. ' 
Rice, Sergeant, 458. 
Rittenbenck, 426. 
Rodgers, the relief ship, 350, 367. 
Ross, Sergeant, 455- 
Russia, 246, 248, 249, 257, 405-413. 
Russia, Little, 254. 

Sabas, Kokoo, 352. 

Sabine, Cape, 415-417, 449-451, 457. 

Sagastyr, 205. 

Sam, Ah, the Chinese cook, 332-335, 337, 

343. 
San Francisco, 2 ; Yacht Club, 2, 40. 
Saunders Island, 416, 439, 446, 447. 
Sava, 352. 

Scaups, the, 270, 271, 278, 390. 
Schley, Commander, W. S., 421, 422, 430, 

441-443, 449, 450, 452, 453, 457, 459 
Schoolmaster, the, at Disco, 425, 426. 
Schuetze, Lieutenant, 369, 373, 385, 388. 
Scot, a sturdv, 431, 432. 
Scurvy, 15, 103, 127. 
Sebree, Lieutenant Uriel, 422, 436, 453 
Semilikoff , 302. 
Serdzekamen, Cape, 5. 
Seven Islands, the, 480. 
Shakers, the American, 270. 
Sharvell, 17-19, 22, 25. 



INDEX. 



497 



Shumomea, 372. 

Siberia, the sleds of, 151-153 ; the Siberian 
ice-cellar, 107. 

Siberian scenery, 262 ; horses and cattle of, 
263, 379 ; the commune system of, 399 ; 
American steamboats in, 406-408, 478, 
482. 

Signal thorp, 205. 

Silenikoff , Alexander, 390, 398. 

Silver Bay, 479. 

Simeon Tomat, 343. 

Simonoski Island, 50, 60, 61. 

Sing, Charley Tong, 72, 125, 422. 

Sister Ganak, 16, 322, 323. 

Sleighs, the place of the, 168, 179, 183. 

Smith, Leigh, 478, 479. 

Smith Sound, 416, 421. 

Snow, sleeping in the, 180, 188, 225. 

Snyder, Private, 460. 

Soldat, Malinki, 244 ; the brave soldatshi, 
345-347. 

South Goose Cape, 479. 

Spear, Cape, 423. 

Spiridon, 105, 106, 139-140, 295, 307, 308, 
366. 

Spitzbergen, 384, 419, 476-480. 

Stalknecht Island, 450, 451, 459. 

Stancias, 262, 265, 272. 

St. John's, N. F., 417, 422, 423, 466-470. 

St. Lawrence Bay, 318, 367, 

St. Michael's, 3. 

Stolboi Island, 50, 56, 59. 

Stolboi (stolb) the mountain, 182, 313, 324, 
329, 331. 

Storm, an Arctic, 297-307. 

St. Petersburg, 357, 408 ; " Hotel Europe," 
reception by Minister Hunt, a drive along 
the Neva, at the Hermitage, 409 ; Ca- 
thedral of St. Isaacs, etc., 410, 413. 

Sucree, 278. 

Supper, offal for, 187, 220-222. 

Sweetman, the ship carpenter, 394. 

Syphilis, 119. 

Taixega, the, 391, 398. 

Tallowguil,373. 

Tamoose, 138, 139, 149, 153, 290, 291, 367- 

369. 
Tara Janga, 363. 
Tarantass, the, 391. 
Tarrahue, 140, 371. 
Tas Arii, 305, 321. 
Tassusisack, 426, 433, 434. 
Taunt, Lieutenant Emory, 422, 450-452. 
Tch-ol-booje, 193. 
Tchuchees, the, 3, 88 ; revolting habits of, 

318. 
Ten-day Camp, the, 50, 54, 82. 
Thadeouiski, 50, 51, 55. 
Thegetoff, the crew of the, 32, 477, 478. 
Thetis, the steamer, 396, 420-424, 428, 430, 

433 ; nipped, 435-437 ; racing, 441-443, 

448, 451, 459, 463, 465, 466. 
Thunder and lightning, absence of, in 

Arctic Ocean, 302, 303. 
Tigress, the, 419, 464. 
Tit Arii, 144, 321. 
Tobias, old, 396. 
Tobolsk, 403, 404. 
Tomat Constantine, 168, 174, 179-191, 195, 

203, 206, 207, 214, 226, 234, 288, 304, 315, 

319, 324, 365. 



Tomb-Cairn, the, 340-345 ; desecration of, 
370. 

Tomsk, 398, 399, 402; the Governor of, 
403 ; " Hotel Europe," and " Hotel Mil- 
lion Siberie," 402, 403. 

Triune, the whaler, 429-443. 

Tschernaieff , General George, 118, 135, 147, 
166, 243, 253, 271, 273-283, 304, 337, 351, 
356, 368, 385, 386. 

Tuamen, 404, 405. 

Tundra, 131, 240, 290, 372, 373. 

Tunguses, the, 129, 199, 207, 266, 395, 306 ; 
well behaved babies, 383. 

Turak, 347, 352-354 ; the river, 362. 

Turkanach, 310, 366. 

Tzarensky, 247. 

Unalaska, 2, 3, 100. 
Upernavik, 422, 426-429, 465, 466. 
Ural Mountains, crossing the, 405. 
Usterda, 194-195, 198, 200, 213-215, 219, 
238, 319-324. 

Vasilli Kool Gar, 93, 98-106, 140, 148-159, 

162, 171, 178-191, 201, 296, 297, 307, 309, 
312, 315, 348, 349, 365. 

Vega, the, 4, 5. 

Verkeransk, 237, 239, 240-262, 265, 271, 
272, 283, 284, 316, 317, 367, 368, 373-375. 
Vitim, 385, 386. 
Vladivostock, 112. 

Vodki, 92, 243, 244, 259, 264, 274, 275, 278. 
Volga, the river, 406. 
Vos Crusina, 221, 222. 

Waigatt Strait, 428. 

Waldraper, Mr., 405. 

Wales, Cape Prince of, 68. 

Walker, Captain, 429, 430, 444. 

Washing, the Yakut mode of, 119, 196. 

Wasilli, the island of, 50, 61. 

Watch, the story of my, 393-396. 

Wave, a frozen, 12, 13. 

Weyprecht, Lieutenant, 477, 478. 

Whale-boat, the, voyage of, 66-124, 135. 

Whale Sound, 447, 448. 

Wilcox Head, 439. 

Wilczek, island of, 477. 

Wilde, Captain, 417. 

Willa-wa, the, 85, 355, 357. 

Wilson, 96, 135. 

Wolf, the whaler, 428-443. 

Woostenholm Island, 446, 449, 463. 

Wrangel Land, 6, 8, 9, 14, 367. 

Yakuts, the, 114 ; blindness among, 118, 

163, 318. 
Yakutsk, at, 272-283. 

Yamshicks, the, 264, 267, 284, 298, 381, 

401. 
Yantic, the U S. steamer, 416-419, 449. 
Yapheme Copaloff, the "Red Fiend," 109, 

112, 121, 126, 129, 135, 304, 313, 315, 319, 

324 ; his valor, 345-347, 371, 375, 385. 
Yaurta, 115, 249, 272. 
Yenesei, the river, 398. 
Yewell, seaman, 451. 
York, Cape, 416-418, 421, 422, 439-445, 

465. 

Zack, the exile, 248 
Zevesdas, the, 358. 



£ 



Books of Travel and Description 

BOTH PROSE AND POETICAL 

Published by 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, 

4 Park St., Boston; ii East i7Th13t., New York. 



Africa. 



Africa. Vol. XXIV. of " Poems of Places." Edited 

by H. W. Longfellow. " Little Classic " style. i8mo, $1.00. 

My Winter on the Nile. By Charles Dudley 

Warner. New Edition, revised, with Index. Crown 8vo, $2.00. 

Seven Years in South Africa. By Emil Holub. 

Travels, Researches, and Hunting Adventures. With nearly two 
hundred Illustrations, and Maps. Translated by Ellen E. Frewer. 
In two volumes, 8vo, $10.00. 

To the Central African Lakes and Back. By Joseph 

Thomson. The Narrative of the Royal Geographical Society's 
East Central African Expedition, 1878-80. With Portraits and 
Map. In two volumes, 8vo, $6.00. 

British America. 
Baddeck, and that Sort of Thing. By Charles 

Dudley Warner. Travel Sketches to and in Cape Breton. 
" Little Classic" style. i8mo, $1.00. 

British America. Vol. XXX. of "Poems of Places." 

Edited by Henry W. Longfellow. "Little Classic" style. 
i8mo, $1.00. 

A Yankee in Canada. By Henry D. Thoreau. 

New Edition. i2mo, gilt top, $1.50. 

France. 
France and Savoy. Vols. IX. and X. of " Poems of 

Places." Edited by H. W. Longfellow. " Little Classic " style. 
i8mo, $2.00. 

French and Italian Note-Books. By Nathaniel 

Hawthorne. With etching and vignette. Riverside Edition. 
Crown 8vo, gilt top, $2.00. " Little Classic " Edition. With vig- 
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Germany. 

Germany. By Madame de Stael. With Notes 

and Appendices. 121110, $2.50; half calf, $4.50. 

Germany. Vols. XVII. and XVIII. of " Poems of 

Places." Edited by H. W. Longfellow. " Little Classic " style. 
l8mo, $2.00. 

Hyperion. A Romance. By H. W. Longfellow. 

Sketches of Life in Germany. i6mo, $1.50. 

Cheap Edition. Cloth, 40 cents ; paper covers, 1 5 

cents. 

Saxon Studies. By Julian Hawthorne. Essays 

on Life in Saxony. i2mo, $2.00. 

Great Britain. 

England and Wales. Vols. I. -IV. of " Poems of 

Places." Edited by H. W. Longfellow. " Little Classic " style. 
i8mo, $4.00. 

England Without and Within. By Richard Grant 

White. i2mo, $2.00. 
The English Bodley Family. By Horace E. Scud- 

DER. (About Travel in England.) Fully Illustrated. Ornamental 
cover, small 4to, $1.50. 

English Note-Books. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

With Vignette. "Little Classic'" Edition. i8mo, 2 vols., $2.00. 

English Traits. By Ralph Waldo Emerson. Riv- 
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i8mo, $1.50. 

Ireland. Vol. V. of " Poems of Places." Edited by 
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The Lands of Scott. By James F. Hunnewell. 

Descriptions of the various Countries in which the scenes of The 
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Old England ; its Scenery, Art, and People. By 

James M. Hoppin. New Edition, enlarged. i2mo, $175. 

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Scotland. Vols. VI.-VIII. of "Poems of Places." 

Edited by H. W. Longfellow. " Little Classic " style. i8mo, 
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Greece, Turkey, and the East. 

Biblical Researches in Palestine. By Edward Rob- 
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Maps alone, $1.00. 

Greece and Turkey. Vols. XIX. and XXII. of 

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Greek Vignettes. A Sail in Greek Seas, Summer 

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In the Levant. By Charles Dudley Warner. 

Travel in the East. Crown 8vo, $2.00. 

Lectures on Ancient and Modern Greece. By C. C. 

Felton. 8vo, $5.00. 
Physical Geography of the Holy Land. By Edward 

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Researches in Palestine." 8vo, $3.50. 

Poems of the Orient. By Bayard Taylor. i6mo, 

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Italy. 

The Improvisatore ; or Life in Italy. By Hans 
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Italian Journeys. By W. D. Howells. i2mo, 

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Italian Note-Books. In " French and Italian Note- 
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Italy. Vols. XI.-XIII. of "Poems of Places." Ed- 
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Journey into Italy. By Michael de Montaigne. 

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Notes of Travel and Study in Italy. By Charles 
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Pictures from Italy. By Charles Dickens. Illus- 
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Six Months in Italy. By George S. Hillard. 

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Spain and Portugal. Vols. XIV. and XV. of " Poems 

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Spain in Profile. A Summer among Olives and 
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Ten Days in Spain. By Kate Field. Illustrated. 

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American Notes. By Charles Dickens. Illus- 
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Among the Isles of Shoals. By Celia Thaxter. 

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Arizona as It Is ; or, The Coming Country. By 

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Ballads of New England. By John G. Whittier. 

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Boston Illustrated. An Artistic and Pictorial De- 
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Early Spring in Massachusetts. By Henry D. 

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Flip, and Found at Blazing Star. By Bret Harte. 

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Historical Sketches of Andover, Massachusetts. By 
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History and Traditions of Marblehead. By Samuel 

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History of Cambridge, Massachusetts. By Lucius 

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History of Hardwick, Massachusetts. By Lucius 

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The Hudson. A Poem. By Wallace Bruce. Il- 
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In the Carquinez Woods. By Bret Harte. A 

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Sketches of Florida. Illustrated. i6mo, $1.50. 

Poems of America. Edited by H. W. Longfellow. 

Holiday Edition. (Including Poems of Places, Vols. XXV. and 
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Rocky Mountain Health Resorts. By Charles 

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Tales of the White Hills, and Legends of New Eng- 
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Virginia. By John Esten Cooke. In "American 

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Walden ; or, Life in the Woods. By Henry D. 

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A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. 
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Wild Roses of Cape Ann, and other Poems. By 

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Works of Bret Harte. New Edition. With por- 
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An Arctic Boat Journey in the Autumn of 1854. 

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The Bodley Grandchildren and Their Journey in 

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Crossing the Atlantic. Travel Pictures by Augus- 
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Dottings Round the Circle. By Benjamin R. Cur- 
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Due West ; or, Round the World in Ten Months. 
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Fireside Travels. By James Russell Lowell. 

Essays on Cambridge, Moosehead, A Sea Voyage, and Italy. i2mo, 
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From Ponkapog to Pesth. Travel Sketches. By 
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Gleanings from Pontresina and the Upper Engadine. 
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Hap Hazard. By Kate Field. Sketches of Travel 

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Hillside and Seaside in Poetry. Selected by Lucy 

Larcom. " Little Classic " style. i8mo, $1.00. 

A Journey in Brazil. By Professor and Mrs. Louis 

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Mr. Bodley Abroad. By Horace E. Scudder. A 

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New Guinea. What I Did and What I Saw. By 

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In two volumes, 8vo, $10.00 ; half calf, $15.00. 

Norwegian Novels. By Bjornstjerne Bjornson. 

In seven volumes. I. Synnove Solbakken ; II. Arne ; III. The 
Bridal March, etc. ; IV. A Happy Boy ; V. The Fisher Maiden ; 
VI. Captain Mansana, etc. ; VII. Magnhild. Novels and stories, 
most of which contain accurate descriptions of Norse customs and 
scenery. i6mo, each, $1.00; the set, 6.00. 

One Year Abroad. By Blanche Willis Howard. 

European Travel Sketches. " Little Classic " style. i8mo, $1.25. 

O. T. ; or, Life in Denmark. By Hans Christian 

Andersen. i2mo, $1.50. 

Outre-Mer. By H. W. Longfellow. Travel and 

Literary Sketches in Europe. i6mo, $1.50. 

Cheap Edition. Cloth, 40 cents ; paper covers, 15 

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Pictures of Travel; In Sweden, among the Hartz 
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i2mo, $1.50. 

Poems of Home and Travel. By Bayard Taylor. 

i6mo, $1.25. 

Poems of Places. Edited by H. W. Longfellow. 

" Little Classic " style. i8mo. Each volume, $1.00 ; the set, thirty- 
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The following volumes of this series are not included elsewhere 
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Asia. XXX. Mexico and South America. XXXI. Oceanica. 

A Poet's Bazaar. By Hans Christian Andersen. 

A Tour in Germany, Italy, Greece, and the Orient. i2mo, $1.50. 

Reminiscences of European Travel. By Andrew 

P. Peabody. i6mo, $1.50. 



Roadside Poems for Summer Travelers. Selected 

by Lucy Larcom. "Little Classic " style. i8mo, $1.00. 

A Roundabout Journey. By Charles Dudley 

Warner. i2mo, $1.50. 

A Russian Journey. By Edna Dean Proctor. Il- 
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A Satchel Guide for Vacation Tourists in Europe. 

New Edition, revised, with additions. A compact Itinerary of the 
British Isles, Belgium and Holland, Germany and the Rhine, Swit- 
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Comparative Values of United States and European Moneys, a 
Traveler's Calendar of Ecclesiastical and Popular Festivals, Fairs, 
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and Churches of Europe. i6mo, roan, flexible, $2.00. 

Saunterings. By Charles Dudley Warner. Eu- 
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Sights and Insights. By Mrs. A. D. T. Whitney. 

A Story of European Travel. 2 vols. i2mo, $3.00. 

To Cuba and Back : A Vacation Voyage. By 
Richard H. Dana, Jr. i6mo, $1.25. 

Transatlantic Sketches. By Henry James. i2mo, 

$2.00. 

Ups and Downs on Land and Water. By Augustus 

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The Voyage of the Jeannette. The Ship and Ice 

Journals of Lieutenant-Commander De Long, U. S. N. Edited 
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sheep, $10.00 ; half morocco, $12.00 ; full morocco, $16.00. 

*%* For sale by all Booksellers. Sent, post-paid, on receipt of price 
by the Publishers, 

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY, 

Boston, Mass. 
A catalogue containing portraits of many of the 
above authors, with a description of their works ; will 
be sent free ; on application, to any address. 



